Roast Chicken Legs recipe

The "Things with Wings" class is rapidly approaching, which means I need to get my act together with handouts. Pretty much everything is in recipe form, except for Roast Chicken Legs. I blogged about them already with copious notes and explanations of which roasting techniques worked well for me and which didn't. And finally, here is the recipe.

How to cut up a chicken
You can buy just chicken legs or you can cut up a whole chicken yourself. With a little practice, you'll do a way better job of it than they do in the store and you'll have the option to keep the legs attached to the back bone as you see in the picture above. It's completely optional and will require a slightly bigger pan, but you'll get to enjoy the oysters (a little oval piece of meat right next to the back bone that is usually lost when legs are cut off). Some people believe it's the yummiest part of the chicken :)

Serves 2

2 whole chicken legs from a 4-5 Lb chicken (about 1 and 1/4 Lb)
1/2 garlic clove, grated on a microplane or mashed to a paste with a chef's knife
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion cut into wedges (about 1/2 inch wide)
4 peeled garlic cloves,
leaves from 7 sprigs of thyme,
1/4 lemon, cut into 4 pieces
Salt and black pepper

Salting (1-4 days before cooking):
Separate the skin from the top of the thighs and sprinkle chicken with salt on both sides and under the skin of the thighs being more generous in the thick parts and less near the tips of drum sticks. I use 1 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt per pound of chicken legs. You can adjust this amount to your liking and use other salts. Just remember that you'll need way less salt (about half) if using finely ground salt.

Place the legs in a zip lock back and refrigerate at least 24 hours or up to 4 days.

Drying the chicken (2 hours before cooking if possible):
Place between paper towels to dry very thoroughly then place in the fridge uncovered on a plate lined with paper towels for 2 hours before cooking. If you don't have 2 hours, you can cook right away.

Roasting:

1. Preheat the oven to 450F with the rack in the middle.
2. Rub the skin of the legs with mashed garlic clove (the skin should be covered with a thin film of garlic juice but no chunks). Melt 1 Tbsp butter and rub the skin with 1/3 of the butter (about 1 tsp) reserving the rest for later. Sprinkle the skin with fresh ground pepper.
3. Set a 12 inch oven-proof skillet (not non-stick) over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil. When the oil is hot (you'll see little ripples and waves in it), add chicken legs skin side up and transfer the skillet to the oven. If you don't have an oven proof skillet, you can do this in a baking dish that is large enough for about 3-4 chicken legs in one layer (you are only cooking 2, but will need extra space for veggies). Preheat the baking dish with oil in the oven until the oil is ripply and barely starting to smoke, 5-8 minutes.
4. Roast the chicken for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toss the onions, garlic cloves, thyme and lemons with a pinch of salt. Add to the skillet around the chicken (only add as many veggies as you need to cover exposed parts of the pan -- don't try to cram them all in). Baste the chicken with another tsp melted butter. Roast another 10 minutes and baste with remaining butter. Stir the veggies and rotate the pan 180 degrees. Roast until the chicken skin is starting to get golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Baste with the juices accumulating in the pan and stir the veggies. Roast until the skin is deep golden brown and the thickest part of the thigh registers 200F, 5-10 minutes. The total roasting time should be 40-50 minutes.
5. Let the chicken rest 15 minutes and serve with veggies and juices from the pan.

Focaccia and Pizza (from the same dough)

Last week, I went to the dry run of Leslie's Rustic Italian Baking class. I came back with a pizza dough and a new found inspiration for baking yeast breads. My first baking discovery, was a complete accident. We didn't need a pizza for dinner. What we needed was bread and unfortunately, I forgot to buy it. So on a whim, I gave the pizza dough a rise, shaped into focaccia, proofed and voila -- it produced a very respectable focaccia. After 5 more batches, the results were much more than respectable. They were simply transcendent. When experimenting with breads, you can only change one small thing in each batch. I consider myself extremely lucky that it only took 5 batches to achieve exactly what I wanted. Normally, it takes me closer to 20.

What's so cool about making 2 completely different breads out of the same dough is that you can see what all that manipulation of time and temperature is about. For a pizza, all the dough needs is 1 rise. For focaccia, you'll get best results with 2 rises and a proof (one more rise after the dough is already shaped). This gives the dough more flavor and chew.

Notes about Ingredients and How to Measure them

The ingredients for rustic breads are as simple as it gets: flour, salt, yeast, water (and sometimes a little sugar and oil). Yet, even the smallest variations in proportions can result in a completely different finished product. Here are the ingredients you'll need to buy, and how to measure them to make sure that you start your baking experiments on the right foot.

Flour:
I use unbleached all-purpose flour from King Arthur. Gold Medal and Pillsbury will be close enough, but don't buy generic brand flour since its protein content is untested and will produce unpredictable results. If you found a 3 year old flour in the back of your cupboard, do yourself and favor and buy a new bag. Flour is perishable and I don't recommend using it more than a year after opening. This recipe also calls for a small amount of Whole Wheat Flour. I use King Arthur for that too.

Another important thing to learn about flour is how to measure it correctly. For the purposes of this recipe, a cup of flour weighs 5 oz. I strongly recommend that you get yourself a cheapy digital scale and weigh your flour. Your 5 ounces will be exactly the same as my 5 ounces. But your cup can vary from my cup by as much as 25% even if you use exactly the same technique of scoop and level. This is due to the differences in container size, fluffiness of flour, and whims of the baking gods. Note that "spoon and level" method is supposed to approximate 4.5oz cup and no one in US agrees on what exactly a cup of flour is.

Yeast:
The word "yeast" usually scares the hell our of home bakers, but these days yeast is as easy to work with as salt or sugar. This recipe calls for SAF instant yeast. You can buy it at most Whole Foods. After opening, transfer it to a jar, look up the expiration date on the package and write it on your jar (it usually lasts for several years). Then store in the fridge and you never have to worry about working with dead yeast. There is no need to bloom this yeast in water like you would active dry yeast. Just add it straight to your dry ingredients.

Salt:
I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. It's available in most supermarkets, except for Whole Foods. Note that Morton's Kosher salt doesn't dissolve as well in baked goods. You can use table salt, but you'll have to adjust the proportions. 1 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt = between 1/2 and 2/3 tsp table salt.

Water:
Measure water in a glass measuring cup. Set it on the counter, then get down until your eyes are on the same level as the line to which you are measuring. In other words, if you want to get 1 cup of water, your eyes should be level with 1 cup mark. Water curves up at the sides of the cup to form a meniscus. Make sure the bottom of the meniscus is at the measurement line (it will appear as if some water is actually above the line). You can also weigh the water if you got yourself a scale for weighing flour. Then you don't have to worry about meniscus. Use an instant read thermometer to make sure the water is the temperature specified in the recipe (too cold and the yeast will have a hard time waking up; too hot and you might kill it).

Notes about Equipment
None of this stuff is expensive, but it's not always found in everyone's kitchen. Before you get started make sure you have:

• an instant read thermometer (digital is a lot easier to read)
  
• a scale (digital is a lot easier to read)
  
• a pizza stone (rectangular works best)
• pastry scraper / dough cutter (not necessary, but comes in very handy)
  
• parchment paper
• large mixing bowl, rimmed baking sheet, and mixing spoons are also handy
• for pizza, you'll need a peel or a rimless baking sheet (but an inverted rimmed sheet will do in a pinch)
  

Stage 1: Making the dough
This amount of dough produces 4 pizzas (each one serves 1-2 people), or 2 focaccias

For mixing the dough:
16.25 oz (462 g) unbleached all-purpose flour (3 1/4 cup)
1.25 oz (36 g) whole wheat flour (1/4 cup)
4 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt (or 2 1/2 tsp table salt)
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp SAF instant yeast
13.85 oz (392 g) water (80-90F) (1 2/3 cup)
2 tsp olive oil

For kneading:
1.25 oz (36 g) unbleached all-purpose flour (1/4 cup)

By hand method:
In a large bowl, mix together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, sugar, and yeast. Make a well in the center and add the water and olive oil. Mix with a fork or a rubber spatula being careful to keep the wet dough in the center and the flour on the outside. When a rough ball forms switch to kneading with your hand. Keep one hand clean and dry for rotating the bowl. To knead, fold the dough in half towards you, press together gently and rotate the bowl 90 degrees (both clockwise and counter clockwise work fine as long as you stick with one or the other). Knead until all the flour is absorbed. The dough will be very sticky.

When kneading gets too hard, you can sprinkle a little bit of flour into the bowl under the dough. But make sure you are disciplined with how much you use. Measure out 1.25 oz (1/4 cup) and don't let yourself go over that amount. If possible try not to use it all. The more you knead, the more elastic the dough will get and eventually it will stick to itself more than the bowl and will begin clearing it. The wetter your dough the nicer holes you'll get in the finished product.

Once you are clearing the bowl with no problems, you can switch to kneading on the counter. This opens more kneading options (like whacking the dough on the counter and folding it away from you, then rotating 90 degrees). This rough handling helps develop gluten giving your dough more structure and chew. Whichever way you knead, do it quickly. If the dough sits on the counter or in a bowl for even a couple of seconds it will start to stick.

Over-kneading by hand is impossible, so err on the side of too much than too little. If you are not very experienced with breads, knead for at least 15 minutes (even 20). If you are very good at kneading, 8 minutes might be all you need. Judging when the dough is kneaded enough is hard for beginner bakers. It will get smooth and silky and very elastic. If you press your finger into it, the indentation will fill immediately. Until you get a good feel for these things, just give your dough 15-20 minutes of energetic kneading and don't worry about it.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl (4 quart or larger) and cover with plastic wrap. Ideally, you want a bowl that is not too wide.

By machine method:
You can make this dough in a stand up mixer. The measurements are the same as by hand with 2 modifications:

• increase all-purpose flour to 16.85 oz. That's adding about half of the flour we reserved for kneading by hand that can be added right up front when using a mixer.
  
• lower the temperature of the water to 55-60F since the mixers tend to heat the dough. You don't want to end up with a very warm dough in the end of kneading or your first rise will happen too quickly, which won't result in adequate flavor and texture development.
  

Mix dry ingredients together using a paddle attachments on low speed (2 on KitchenAid), add wet and continue mixing on low speed until no dry flour remains. Switch to a dough hook and mix for 10-20 seconds until dough forms. Crank up the speed to medium (4 on Kitchen Aid) and mix for 5 minutes. After a few minutes of mixing, the dough should clear the sides, but stick to the bottom of the bowl. Stop the mixer, rearrange the dough and mix on medium (4 on KitchenAid) another 5 minutes. In the end the dough should be clearing the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Stage 2: Rising

Rising is best done at low room temperature of about 70F. Of course, you don't always have control over that, but don't try to stick your dough next to a radiator or some other warm place. That comes in handy for proofing (final rise after the dough is already shaped), but not for rising. The lower the temperature, the more flavor you'll develop. You can't speed up the rising process, but you can always slow it down and eventually stop it if it's more convenient to proceed the next day. To do that, put the dough in the fridge. It will continue to rise for a few hours (since it doesn't immediately cool down), but will eventually stop.

For pizza:
If you want to make pizza, you only need one rise of about 2 hours at room temperature or until the dough doubles. If you want to bake it the next day, let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes at room temperature and move it to the fridge. Then proceed to shaping and baking instructions.
For focaccia:
While you can get away with just one rise for focaccia, it can really benefit from 2 rises. This gives it more flavor and chew. During each rise, the dough should at least double in volume (ideally, triple on the first rise). Each rise takes about 2 hours at room temperature assuming the dough wasn't just removed from the fridge when the rise starts (in which case it will take about 3 hours). Unless you are home all day, it's most practical to make the first rise overnight. Let the dough rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour at room temp (until it's about one and a half times the original volume) and move it to the fridge until the next day.

To deflate the dough after the first rise, sprinkle the work surface lightly with flour. Turn the bowl upside down and let the dough drop. Stretch it into a rectangle, then fold into thirds. Don't be afraid to pop the bubbles at this stage. Return the dough to an oiled boil, cover with plastic and let rise again until doubled.

Stage 3: Pre-heating the oven, shaping and baking

For pizza:
If the dough was refrigerated, remove it from the fridge 30-60 minutes before baking.
Set the rack on the lowest setting in your oven (a few inches above the oven floor). Place a pizza stone on it and turn the oven to 500F. Pre-heat for 30 minutes.

10 minutes before you are ready to bake, shape the pizzas. Prepare 4 pieces of parchment paper about 12x12 inches. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Stretch each one with floured hands or roll it with a floured rolling pin on floured surface into a rough circle (don't worry if it's not really round). Try to get it as thin as possible without tearing it (about 1/8 inch thick). If it tears, just smoosh the torn part together. Place each pizza on a piece of parchment paper. Top with sauce and toppings (ending with cheese if using). Remember that less is more here (go very easy on the sauce and toppings).

You'll need to bake these pizzas one at a time, but they bake fast. Slide a peel or a rimless baking sheet (if you don't have either, use inverted baking sheet) under the parchment paper and slide the parchment paper onto the pizza stone. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the bottom is crusty enough to your liking. Slide the parchment paper back onto a peel or baking sheet and proceed with the other pizzas.

For focaccia:
Focaccia is a lot thicker and ideally bubblier than pizza (with more nooks, crannies, and holes in it's crumb). The second rise contributes to that, but so does the proof (a final rise that happens after the dough is shaped.

An hour before your are ready to bake, prepare 2 large rimmed baking sheets by placing a piece of parchment on them, and drizzling each with 1 Tbsp of olive oil (2 Tbsp total). Spread it around with your fingers into a circle about 10 inches in diameter. Cut the dough in half and place halves on the 2 sheets. Oil your fingers and stretch the dough gently into rough circles about 10 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick (don't worry if they are not really round).

Drizzle each dough with 1 Tbsp olive oil (2 Tbsp total). Cover with plastic wrap (try to stretch it over the sides of the sheets so that it doesn't cling to the dough too much. Let rise for 1 hour.

30 minutes before you are ready to bake, set the rack on the lowest setting in your oven (a few inches above the oven floor). Place a pizza stone on it and turn the oven to 500F. Pre-heat for 30 minutes. I usually place the breads near the oven to help them proof.

When the focaccias get visibly puffy (about 1 hour of proofing), remove the plastic wrap, sprinkle them with fresh rosemary leaves (or toppings of your choice), and use an oiled finger to dimple it. You don't need to be gentle. Push your finger all the way to the baking sheet and make these holes at about 2 inch intervals.

Place the baking sheets (one at a time) on the pizza stone and bake 13-16 minutes or until focaccia is deep golden brown, rotating the baking sheet 180 degrees after the first 7 minutes.

As soon as focaccias come out of the oven, drizzle each one with an additional 1 Tbsp olive oil (2 Tbsp total). If you are using oily or cheesy toppings, skip this extra oil. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Dividing the dough to bake on different days:
Once the dough is kneaded, it can be divided, and put through rising and shaping on different days.

Pre-portioned pizza dough can also be frozen very successfully. It's especially convenient to let it do the rise, then deflate, divide, and freeze in oiled zip lock bags. A day before you are ready to bake, move the pizza dough to the fridge to start defrosting.

BlueStar update (after 6 months of ownership)

It's time for another BlueStar update. It's been 6 months since I bought this pro-style range. It took months of research and sleepless nights to make this decision. If you are not in the market for a range, you'll probably find this post very boring. Come back in about a week when I'll post something yummy.

Let me start with the good news. I have never had to change my dinner plans or cancel a class due to the range becoming completely dys-functional. The range also cooks and bakes exceptionally well. The stove top gives me control from the lowest low to very high and everything in between. The oven bakes evenly and holds heat well. The convection fan gives me that extra boost of browning when I need it.

Now the bad news. The reliability has been atrocious.

In my last post, I mentioned the jet engine noise the oven made after being on for about 30 minutes at high temperature (400F or higher). The first service call from Vesco (the only service company I am allowed to use if I don't want to null and void my guarantee) blamed it on the propane company. They wouldn't even stay long enough to reproduce the problem and their propane pressure meter was broken, but they said it can't possibly be the range. My propane pressure is likely dropping sometimes, causing the noise, they said. The propane company came and did a ton of tests and reproduced the problem several times. It was not the pressure at all. It was the range. I was lucky they took pity on me and didn't charge me for the long service call that turned out to not be their fault at all.

One good thing about BlueStar's terrible reliability is that it puts you in touch with long lost friends. I got an e-mail from Mark, who was my partner at CIA (Culinary Institute of America), and he said he just bought a BlueStar too and it was making the same noise. He was googling for this issue and came across my blog. What BlueStar said to both of us is that the pipe that sends propane to the stove gets warped out of alignment when the oven heats up. This results in propane igniting in the wrong place and making very loud noise. Luckily, they had a solution handy -- a small piece of metal to keep the pipe in place. The Vesco guy came out, put it in place and the noise stopped. Why don't they put it on all their ranges to begin with? That piece of metal couldn't possibly cost more than $10.

All was well in my kitchen until around December (4 months after I bought the range). The door started sticking. I heard about this happening and googled for a solution. EuroStoves, who is a big BlueStar retailer, and the leading expert on it, explained in one of its instructional videos that you should spray the hinges with Pam every once in a while to keep the door operating smoothly. I tried Pam. It helped. But a week later the door was getting badly stuck again. I kept spraying it with Pam (at some point, I had to do it every 2 days). And one day, I couldn't open the door at all to get something out of the oven. After turning the oven off, and pulling for 5 minutes, the door finally opened. But as you can imagine, that's not a very good situation to be in. I called BlueStar. They said they'll send me a new door. They said they have a better design now that prevents the hinges from overheating and deforming (my left hinge was in pretty bad shape). Now the door has ventilation holes not only on top, but on the sides too.

A month later, the new door finally arrived and got installed. Meanwhile, it was a lot of Pam, tagging, and pulling. I asked to get a year guarantee on the new door. It's only been in existence for 1 year, and they said most people don't have any problems with doors for 1-2 years. Considering their quality assurance record, I thought I should at least get 1 year guarantee. They said it's only 90 days or until my regular guarantee runs out (which is in August 2010). After that, they claim they've been sending free doors to customers who have problems up to 4 years, but won't cover the installation. It's hard to say whether that was a real guarantee, or just some temporary policy. If I didn't use my oven 5 times as much as normal cooks, I'd be worried. But I am hoping I'll start seeing problems if any before August 2010 since I use the oven every day.

I wonder what they'd say if I started having door problems after my regular 1 year guarantee ran out? I might be on my own, which would be very costly. The door is around $500, plus $125 for installation.

Hope this post was helpful to all you guys who've been contacting me with BlueStar questions. By the way, if you need a good contact at BlueStar, it's Eric. Calling the general number is useless. If you need his direct number, send me e-mail. I don't feel it's right to just post it on the web. Good luck and I feel your pain!

Duck confit minus the fat

What is the last time you made duck confit?

According to my estimates, duck confit happens in home kitchens at most 0.25 times a year. I am talking about experienced home cooks here. The kinds that find making dinner in the end of a busy work day relaxing, and who don't blink an eye before attempting a multi-hour cooking project on a weekend. Still. After talking to my students, I can't see duck confit being cooked much. Of course, you can buy it, but from my experience, the store bought stuff is pathetic compared to the home-made version.

Pst -- I'll tell you a little secret. Last time I made duck confit was 2 years ago. Is it hard? No! I've never heard of someone's duck confit not coming out even if it was their first time. Is it a pain in the ass? Yes! It all boils down to working with a bucket of duck fat. I am not talking about the calories. I am talking about the logistics. Handling large amounts of fat at home is not fun. That's why I never deep-fry. In theory, duck fat is easily obtainable and recyclable material. You roast a couple of ducks and you'll get yourself enough fat to confit 4 duck legs. There are two problems however: 1) I hate whole roasted ducks because they don't do the bird justice -- the breast is never medium-rare and the legs are never as tender as in confit. 2) if you want to keep that fat in usable form, you have to strain it and separate it from the juices -- doable, but messy.

There is, of course, the option of buying duck fat instead of rendering your own. But you'll have to pay about $12 for 4 cups of fat to cook 4-6 duck legs. When you are done, there is still the ordeal of filtering the fat and separating it from juices if you want to freeze and reuse it.

While developing recipes for my chicken/duck class, I was wondering if there was some way to achieve the same meltingly tender duck flesh and crispy skin without all the fat. Turns out I was not the only one tortured by this questions. I found a couple of New York Times articles about how to make duck confit without the fat. The concept seemed so straight forward I didn't bother printing the recipes or book marking them. You salt the duck 24 hours in advance, like you would for confit, then cook in the oven at low temp for about 2.5 - 3 hours. I got myself some duck legs, gave it a try and it was perfect. The only problem was how to do this in class when you only have 3 hours total and need the oven for other dishes at a higher temperature? I was also wondering if salting the ducks 24 hours in advance was necessary. That would be tricky since I was planning to have the students take the ducks apart in class.

In the last 2 months, I cooked more duck legs than I am willing to admit. I messed with temperature and duration, with curing and lack there of, with adding aromatic vegetables in the bottom of the pan, with poking the duck skin to help fat render. No matter what I did, the results were much drier than my first successful try. Even though I was only cooking 2 duck legs at a time to minimize the amount of experimental duck we had to consume, I was reaching the point where the very idea of duck legs was making me nauseous.

I decided to retest the original successful idea, but after so many attempts I forgot what exactly I did the first time. It seemed so easy, I didn't bother writing it down. What was worse, I couldn't remember which exact article inspired the successful attempt. Finally, I found it. It was an article by Regina Schrambling from 2002. This time, instead of skimming it, I read it very carefully. The answer was right there in front of me:

The trick to this no-fat-added confit is packing the legs tightly into a baking dish, one that is about three inches deep, and sealing it with foil so that the meat essentially simmers in its own juices over several hours.

That's what was different. The first time, I cooked 4 duck legs and they sat in the skillet very tightly. On all the subsequent tries, I cooked only 2 duck legs which gave them too much breathing room. The fat they were rendering wasn't enveloping them at all, and the results were significantly drier even after I returned to low temperature and a long cooking time. I couldn't remember if I covered the dish the first time or not, but I decided to stop messing around and <gasp> follow directions. Well, almost... since I stupidly trimmed the extra fat of my remaining two duck legs the previous day, I thought I should add a bit more fat in. I had some pork fatback in my freezer. I cut a few slices and added them to the dish. I arranged the legs as snugly as possible in a much smaller dish and covered it with foil. 3 hours later, the legs were meltingly tender and all I had to do was crisp their skin. I tried the broiler, and non-stick skillet options. The skillet won by a huge margin, producing evenly brown, shatteringly crisp, and not at all chewy skin.

Lazy and Cheap Duck Confit

In traditional duck confit, the legs are submerged in rendered duck fat and cooked slowly for several hours. This can be both messy and expensive, preventing home cooks from attempting this preparation too often. That's a shame because absolutely identical results can be achieved without buckets of duck fat. You won't be able to store the confit for a month since you won't have enough fat to cover it, but now you might attempt this mouthwatering dish more often than once a year. If you ever cut up whole ducks, cut the skin into strips, put it in a zip lock bag and freeze for making confit. No need to render it, it will melt during the cooking process. If not, a cheap and wonderful alternative to duck fat is pork fatback. I usually keep some in my freezer for all my confit needs.

4 duck legs if using Long Island or small duck (2 if using Moulard or large duck)
Salt and pepper
4 oz scraps of duck fat or pork fatback, sliced into 1/6 inch thick strips 1 bay leaf, broken into 3-4 pieces

Salt cure (1-3 days in advance):
Trim excess fat from duck legs and reserve for cooking the legs later.
Sprinkle duck legs with salt all over (about 2 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt), cover and refrigerate.

To cook duck legs:
Preheat the oven to 275F.

Find an oven safe dish that is 3 inches deep and fits duck legs extremely tightly. It's ok for some parts of them to overlap, but it's not ok for there to be any space around the legs or they'll dry out. Arrange a few pieces of duck or pork fat on the bottom of the dish and top with pieces of bay leaf.

Sprinkle duck with freshly ground black pepper on all sides and arrange skin side up in the baking dish fitting the legs very snugly. Tuck strips of duck or pork fat around duck legs anywhere exposed meat comes in contact with the sides of the dish. Arrange the remaining strips of fat on top of duck legs. Cover the dish tightly with foil and place in the middle of the oven for 3 hours if using small duck legs such as Long Island (a.k.a. Pekin) or 4 hours if using large legs such as Moulard.

The duck is done when a wooden skewer goes through it with absolutely no resistance. The meat should be spoon tender. Cool the legs in fat for 15-20 minutes, then remove them to a paper towel to dry off on both sides. Remove any pieces of duck/pork fat or bay leaves that might be stuck to duck legs. The duck legs can be cooled completely at this point and refrigerated until you are ready to serve them (up to a week).

What to do with rendered fat:
You'll need 1-2 Tbsp of rendered fat to crisp up duck skin in the skillet, so save that. The rest of the fat can either be discarded or filtered and frozen indefinitely for future use. Do not pour the fat down the drain. I keep a disposable plastic container in my freezer labeled "fat to dump". Whenever I have any cooking fat I don't want to keep, I pour it into this container and when the container is full, I throw it away. To save the duck fat for future use, first put it through a fine mesh strainer to get rid of any chunks, bay leaves, etc. Then let it sit for about an hour until it completely separates from the juices (the fat will be on top, juices on the bottom). Carefully ladle the fat into a clean jar without disturbing the juices. Cool to room temperature, then cover and freeze.

To serve:
If the duck legs just came out of the oven, all they need is a quick browning in a non-stick or cast iron skillet. Set the skillet oven medium heat and add about a tablespoon of rendered duck fat. When hot, place duck legs in the skillet skin side down. Cook until the skin is nicely browned, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Serve whole or tear up to serve in salads, pasta, etc.

If the duck legs were chilled before serving, warm them up in a covered non-stick skillet on medium-low for about 5-7 minutes flipping half way through. Then proceed to the crisping step above.

*      *      *
P.S. Unless you teach cooking classes, you probably couldn't care less about how I am going to fit this dish into a 3 hour class without buying 3 sets of duck legs. But just in case you are curious, here is my plan. The first time I teach the class, I'll buy extra 4 duck legs (besides the whole ducks and chickens that students will be cutting apart). I'll cure these legs a day before class and will get them in the oven 2 hours before class. During class, I'll show students how to salt the legs they cut off the duck, how to pack them tightly into a dish with extra duck fat scraps and get it ready for the oven. I'll then disassemble these duck legs and freeze them for next class (so that I don't have to buy extra duck legs in the future). Meanwhile the confit that I would have started before class will be done, and I'll show them how to test it for doneness and crisp the skin.

How to Braise a Chicken

Well, I finally did it -- I announced Things with Wings. This latest addition to our class list is supposed to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about poultry but were afraid to ask.

Developing a new class also has a wonderful side effect of providing me with blogging material (or more precisely with a deadline). I can no longer procrastinate writing down these recipes, so I might just as well blog about them.

Today's topic will be how to braise chicken, which very conveniently applies to braising duck too. What is braising? Braising is a combination cooking method: first you brown the protein and then you cook it in liquid. There is an insane amount of braising chicken recipes in this world: coq au vin, chicken Provençal, chicken with 40 garlic cloves, chicken Cacciatore, Moroccan chicken tagine, etc. Most of the recipes I've seen for these dishes provide mediocre results: flabby skin and tough dry meat. Their only saving grace is the sauce.

Is it possible to make braised chicken that's all about the chicken? Turns out it is, but it took a bit of work to figure it out.

How to solve the dry meat problem:
Don't use breasts! Would you braise a beef tenderloin? No, not even the most idiotic of cookbooks would suggest that. But for some strange reason, most braising recipes suggest that you cut up the chicken into 8 pieces and cook legs and breasts together. Chicken breasts have no connective tissue or fat making them a terrible choice for a braise. Just like you wouldn't put tenderloin and chuck into one stew pot, you shouldn't put poultry breasts and legs into one stew pot either. The reason for braising a whole chicken is historic (or at least that's my best guess). If you wanted to braise a chicken in the old days, you had to buy a whole chicken at the market or kill one from your own backyard. Finding two different chicken preparations for legs and breasts when you had a large family to feed was simply not practical. But since it's very easy to go to the store and buy only legs or only breasts these days, why not use this to our advantage?

How to solve the tough meat problem:
Assuming you are using chicken legs, you are not likely to end up with dry results, but can easily end up with tough ones. Chicken legs need a good long time to become tender, and indirect heat, but most recipes tell you to cook them "just until done" and to use a stove top. That doesn't do braised chicken justice. I found that the optimal way to cook them (after you browned on the stovetop and assembled your sauce) is in the oven at a gentle 325F heat for slightly over an hour or until they are fork tender. Ideally, you'd braise at even lower temperature for even longer time, but that might pose a problem for you schedule-wise. For absolutely ideal results, braise at 250F for 2.5 hours. But 325F is as high as you can go without toughening the meat. Don't be alarmed if your thermometer registers 190-200F (not the usual 170F you expect to see in done chicken legs). That's the point at which the connective tissue melts and leaves you with the most tender results.

How to solve the flabby skin problem:
Oh, this has been the thorn in my side for years. No matter what I did, it seemed impossible to keep the skin crisp. I tried re-crisping it in the skillet or under the broiler when the braise was done, but results were never satisfactory. The answer finally came from my culinary heroine Judy Rodgers, the author of the Zuni Cafe cookbook. Only submerge the chicken in the sauce half way to make sure the skin stays above the liquid. Oh Judy, I love you! Finally, it's braised chicken skin that actually tastes good. I know what you must be thinking -- why not just remove the skin? Sure, you can do that, but I want my skin and I want to eat it too :)

Another tip from Judy Rodgers is to pre-salt the chicken 1-3 days in advance. It makes it way more flavorful and in my opinion improves the texture too. Though that's not just a tip for braising chicken, but cooking chicken in general.

That's all there is to it, and we are ready to braise.

Moroccan inspired chicken braise

Serves 6

12 chicken thighs (or 6 chicken legs, cut into thighs and drumsticks)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp kosher salt (or 2 tsp table salt) or less if using chicken stock with salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
2 Tbsp canola or olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, sliced pole to pole
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp all-purpose flour
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 inch ginger, peeled and finely minced
1/2 preserved lemon (a.k.a Moroccan lemon), pulp removed, skin rinsed, and sliced paper thin
12 green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 and 1/2 cup chicken stock (plus more as needed), if possible home-made, unsalted

Salting the chicken (if possible, do this 1-3 days in advance)

1. Press the chicken pieces between paper towels to dry and sprinkle with salt on all sides.
2. If possible let the chicken air-dry in the fridge for a day to help the skin crisp as it cooks. To do that, arrange it in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet skin side up and let sit in the fridge uncovered. If you don't have room in your fridge for this, just pile it all into a zip lock bag.

Browning the chicken:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Press the chicken pieces between paper towels to dry before searing. Mix pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cardamom and sprinkle all over chicken.
3. Set a large (if possible NOT non-stick) skillet over medium high heat and add the oil (1 Tbsp for 10 inch skillet, 2 Tbsp for 12 inch). When the skillet is hot, add chicken pieces skin-side down without overlapping (if your skillet is not large enough, do this in batches). Do not disturb the chicken for at least 5 minutes. Regulate heat so that the chicken is making sizzling noises, but is not burning. When the first side is brown, flip the chicken to brown briefly on the other side. You'll have to rotate drumsticks more than 1 time to brown them on all sides.

Making the sauce and braising:

1. Remove the chicken to a large plate and add the onions to the skillet. Turn down the heat to medium and cook stirring occasionally until tender, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour and cook stirring constantly until no streaks remain, at least 1 minute. Add stock, olives, and preserved lemon. Bring to a simmer stirring constantly.
2. If you are working in a large skillet that can fit all chicken pieces in 1 layer, put the chicken pieces into the skillet skin-side up. If your skillet is not large enough to fit all the chicken, pour the sauce into some baking dish (like 13 by 9 inch pyrex) and set the chicken on top. The liquid should come half way up the chicken pieces. Be careful to keep most of the skin above the liquid. If it looks like you have too much liquid, take some out. You can simmer it in a small pot and use it as extra sauce. If you don't have enough liquid, add some stock.
3. Place the dish with chicken in the middle of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is fork tender.
4. Remove chicken pieces to a serving dish, tilt the pan, and skim off excess fat. Serve with rice or couscous.

Leftovers keep very well. To warm up, lightly brown chicken pieces skin-side down in a little bit of butter using a non-stick skillet. Flip, add sauce, and simmer on medium-low until heated through.