CHEAP CHICKEN LEGS (AND A FREE TRIP TO EUROPE)
MPB
I have huge gossip for you.
I like chicken legs better than chicken breasts. Yes, it’s true. The legs are juicer, they have more flavor, they have more fat (mmmmmm, fat), and you can buy them whole for a fraction of the cost of breasts. In fact, this chicken legs recipe is my go-to for whenever I don’t know what to eat. I’ve made it for friends, dates, and myself.
Actually, I like eating these chicken legs best when I’m alone at home with nothing to do. They make me feel French. There’s nothing particularly French about this recipe, but it reminds me of this chicken dish I order at my favorite French bistro in LA.
This meal then allows me to escape my life for a hot second and pretend I live in Paris. I put on my caftan, I pour myself a glass of inexpensive or stolen pinot noir.* (You can also use water with red food coloring or grape juice. This is a fantasy.) I play some Édith Piaf, et voilà, I am no longer Miranda. I am Mee-ran-daa. If you speak French, then I suggest you talk to yourself in French for the rest of the night; try to dream in French if you can. That’s how you’ll know you’re fluent in French. If not, then just mumble garbage to yourself in a French accent. Dream in that mumbled garbage as well. (That’s how you know you’re fluent in mumbled garbage.) Stare at yourself in the mirror while eating and put on a beret. Maybe pull out some Sartre or Simone De Beauvoir.
You have now carved out a whole beautiful night of borderline Parisian vacation for yourself without spending much of your hard-earned cash. If you post a pic, the next day at work, everyone will be like, “Hey, did you fly to Europe last night? That was so fast.”
Please feel free to ignore this plan, even though it’s an amazing one. It is not a part of the recipe. It’s simply an example of all the ways chicken can change your life. Other character suggestions I have are a sixty-year-old woman at her house in the Hamptons in a Nancy Meyers movie, or a cool Homo erectus in her cave, enjoying all the marrow from the last bit of bones before her cave-mate comes home and takes it all. I suppose you can also just be yourself eating something delicious at home, having not spent a lot of money at all. Perhaps this is the best option, but who’s to say?
I think it’s fun to be reminded how far food can take you in one evening if you’re just alone at home and broke. Forget your money problems for a moment and fly away. You don’t actually have to read Sartre. You can just watch When Harry Met Sally. Clearly that’s what I do, but I leave a copy of Sartre next to me, just in case some hot philosopher happens to be walking around my apartment.
Au revoir, mes petits poulets.
P.S. This recipe suggests a cast iron skillet. Did you not get one yet? Are you literally insane? It’s life changing! Go right now and buy one.
kk. Love you.
SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the skillet
2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch cubes (leave the peel on)
½ medium onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
6–8 cloves garlic, peeled
2 whole chicken legs, skin on
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ bunch kale, destemmed and chopped roughly
Chopped parsley, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
• Preheat the oven to 475°F.
• Lightly coat a 12-inch cast iron skillet (or another heavy-bottomed, ovenproof frying pan) with olive oil.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, onion, and garlic cloves. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix well to coat.
• Place the chicken legs skin-side up in the oiled pan.
• Arrange the vegetable mixture around the chicken, making sure the chicken is mostly exposed.
• Sprinkle the chicken and vegetables with the salt and pepper.
• Bake for 35 minutes.
• Add the chopped kale to the pan, stirring gently to ensure it is lightly coated with the oil pooling in the pan.
• Return to the oven for another 12 to 15 minutes, until the kale is wilted and the chicken skin is crisp.
• Let rest for 2 to 3 minutes, then serve hot, garnished with the parsley.