Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs with Brown Butter, Apricot and Caper Sauce
I love LOVE love pan roasting chicken thighs. Starting them in the direct high heat on the stove leads to flavourful crispy skin and they finish cooking through in the gentle and even radiant heat of the oven it is the best of both worlds! Plus rendering out all that fat in the skin leads to so much flavour and richness in the vegetables that cook in it.
Prep?
- The chicken thighs can be dry brined the night before by generously seasoning with salt and leaving to air dry in the fridge.
- Carrots can be trimmed and halved the day before.
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chefs Knife
- Y Peeler
- Kettle (Or pot for boiling water)
- Heat Proof Bowl
- Large and Medium Sized Frying Pans
- Tongs
- Heatproof Rubber Spatula
Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs with Brown Butter, Apricot and Caper Sauce
Course: UncategorizedDifficulty: EasyServings
4-6
servingsIngredients
6 Bone in skin on chicken thighs
Vegetable Oil2 Bunches of carrots, peeled and halved length wise
6 Shallots
1 Lemon halved
Vegetable Oil
- Brown Butter, Caper and Apricot Sauce
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
6 Dried Apricots
1 Tbsp Capers
Fresh Parsley
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 425F
Prep the vegetables by trimming the carrots (if they came with leaves save them for another use) and cut in half lengthwise, trim both ends off of the shallots before cutting in half lengthwise then cut the lemon in half crosswise. - Heat your large frying pan over medium high heat with a generous glug of vegetable oil.
When the oil is hot, glistening and glides quickly when the pan in tilted (you might see tiny whispers of smoke) add the carrots and season with salt then continue to cook turning occasionally until starting to char then remove from the pan and set aside.
The carrots will not be fully cooked at this point. - Pat the chicken dry then season with salt.
Add the chicken to the pan skin side down and cook undisturbed until they are golden and easily release from the pan. This will take about 3-5 minutes.
Flip and repeat on the other side then transfer to the plate with the carrots.
Leave all the rendered fat in the pan as it will add flavour to the vegetables as they cook.
Place the shallots and lemon halved cut side down in the pan and continue to cook without touching them 2 minutes then nestle the carrot and chicken on top and transfer to the over for 13-16 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165F.
Transfer the chicken and vegetables to a serving plater or plates and lease the cooking liquid and lemon behind.
If you are concerned about the chicken cooling too much while you make the sauce you can tent it with foil. - Meanwhile boil at least a 1/2 cup of water either in a pot or kettle.
Thinly slice the apricots then transfer to a heat proof bowl and cover with boiling water.
Finely chop 1/4 cup of parsley.
Drain 1 Tbsp of capers/ - Once the chicken is out of the oven melt the butter in a medium pan over medium heat stirring constantly until it has turned a light golden brown.
Stir in 2 Tbsp of the reserved cooking liquid, be careful as the butter will sizzle and spit.
Squeeze in the juice from the roasted lemons then stir in the capers, drained apricots and parsley.
Taste for seasoning and then spoon over the chicken.
