Chicken thighs are the prize of a roast chicken. Actually a chicken has a number of prizes. Our favorite is the chicken tail which we alternate sharing. Next is the chicken oyster. Thankfully there are two per bird, no coin flipping necessary. Once these tasty morsels are savored we get to the meat of the bird. For us the chicken thigh is it. The skin is slightly thicker and crisps up wonderfully. Since Aki does not often eat chicken skin I usually get a double dose. The organic birds that we procure at our local market are fat and juicy. The meat of the thigh is well marbled with varying muscles lined with small pockets of rich fat. The roasting process seems to enhance its decadent characteristics leaving us with intensely flavorful crisp and chewy morsels of meat to enjoy.
The hitch in the thigh is that bone. It gets in the way. Many will note that the bone is adding flavor and
helping to keep juice in the meat although we're not clear on the science behind that yet. We have not done a study on the benefits of bone in cooking versus bone out (perhaps we shall soon) so the proof right now is in the eating and perception. While at home Aki enjoys meticulously cleaning the meat from the bones, it just slows me down. On the other hand, in more formal settings Aki appreciates food that is both delicious and easy to eat since the conversation is usually at least as important as the food. With that in mind, we felt that if we boned out chicken thighs and flavored them with tarragon, salt, and pepper and then re-assembled the thighs without the bone we could control the flavor and the cooking process which means that we would be able to consistently produce a nearly ideal chicken thigh.
In the photo, the thighs from two birds are compressed in a Battera Sushi mold with their skins fitted into place on top to produce a terrine of chicken thigh which we then cook at 60 degrees Celsius for an hour and cool down. Once this is done we may butcher it into individual portions and pan roast them. While the front side work is certainly more involved the end results support and surpass the effort involved.
The hitch in the thigh is that bone. It gets in the way. Many will note that the bone is adding flavor and
In the photo, the thighs from two birds are compressed in a Battera Sushi mold with their skins fitted into place on top to produce a terrine of chicken thigh which we then cook at 60 degrees Celsius for an hour and cool down. Once this is done we may butcher it into individual portions and pan roast them. While the front side work is certainly more involved the end results support and surpass the effort involved.
