Upgrade: Pan-Roasted Chicken with Onion Gravy

Today's upgrade is based on a chicken recipe I wrote back in 2012. While there's nothing wrong with that one, it was quite basic, consisting of a pan-roasted piece of chicken with a simple onion gravy. I wanted to do something a little more interesting this time. The gravy has some real complexity. I cooked the onions longer than what you would normally do for a pan sauce, which brings out more sweetness. This balances well with the rendered fat from the chicken skin, salty soy sauce, and tart lemon. This recipe makes more than enough sauce for the chicken, and pairs perfectly with mashed potatoes. 

Leg quarters are quite underrated, I think. We got a big, deeply discounted bag of them a few weeks ago (the first use was smoked chicken) and have them ready to go in the freezer. When we were wedding planning last year, we had to get a kosher caterer for a handful of guests. The menu they provided had "chicken bottoms," which we had never heard of. Turns out, it's another term for leg quarters. The only references I can find to this term come from kosher websites. I always find these linguistic peculiarities fun.

As I've mentioned before, we are on a two-week grocery cycle, in which we carefully plan out 14 days worth of meals to limit exposure. I then categorize the meals based on how fresh the ingredients need to be. This is a perfect meal for the back half of the cycle. The fresh ingredients (potatoes, onion, and lemon) hold up well being stored. I harvested the rosemary from the garden. I highly recommend growing herbs that are better fresh than dry and are typically used in small quantities. This way, you can harvest a little instead of buying a big bunch that will go bad before you can use it. As such, I have rosemary, parsley, mint, and basil in the garden. Everything else in the recipe is a pantry staple. 

Ingredients

• 2 skin-on chicken leg quarters (can substitute 4 legs, 4 thighs, 2 breasts, etc.)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 Tbs. flour
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
• 1 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• Vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pat chicken dry and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Heat vegetable oil on medium-high heat in an oven-safe skillet (I used stainless steel; copper is also good for this). Cook the chicken, skin side down, until skin is crisp. Turn over and cook another minute. 

Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until chicken is cooked through. Set the chicken aside when done.

Without draining the pan, add the onion and sauté over medium-high heat for several minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning. The onions should be softened and golden brown. Add flour, stir together, and cook another minute.

Deglaze the pan with wine and scrape up any fond. Allow to reduce for a minute.

Add stock, rosemary, and soy sauce. Whisk together. Continue reducing to desired thickness. Add lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper before serving. Serve with potatoes or rice to soak up the sauce.