Crispy Cast Iron Chicken

I'm a cast iron fanatic. I cook almost everything in it and one of my favorite past times is taking old cruddy cast iron and re-seasoning it to look like new. When I have a gross yard sale pan and I've managed to coax that deep black shine out of it....perfection. One of the things that I love about cast iron is its ability to go from stove to oven, and that's what I did tonight!

This dish is so simple and quick - only takes half an hour! Get a couple chicken legs, rinse and pat dry. Stick some garlic slices under the skin. Preheat your cast iron skillet on high with a little vegetable oil until it's hot (don't use olive oil, the smoking point is too low). Liberally sprinkle the top of the chicken legs with salt and pepper then place skin side down in the skillet. Dance to the sizzle! Let the skin crisp up for 8-10 minutes and DO NOT touch them, no matter how tempted. Raw skin sticks but once it cooks a bit it will un-stick. You don't want to mess around with them or you'll ruin their crisping. Then flip them over and let the bottom get crispy for about 5 minutes. 

Cookin' that top skin
And flipped. Golden! This was after 8 minutes, I wouldn't have minded even a little longer :)

Next we're going to stick them in the oven at 450. It should only take about 10 to 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Pull, dodge the smoke, and let the chicken sit for about five minutes to reabsorb its juices.

For the side dish I made roasted romaine. Cut some heads of romaine in half, lay out, and drizzle with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste, then roast for 8-10 minutes at 450. Optional: drop some diced veggies in the center of each half. This time I put just some red onions, but it's also delicious with bell peppers and garlic. I love dishes with lots of color! I also topped the romaine with a sprinkle of parmesan and cooked another minute to melt the cheese.



And what would this dish be without some garlic bread?? Crusty Dutch loaves are high on my favorite breads list. I cut two slices, buttered, sprinkled with garlic powder and oregano and broiled until the edges were just getting crispy.

Serve with a slice of lemon to juice the chicken and romaine


Bonus: Cosbysaurus mowin' down on some live bacon!



Comments

  1. So we have only used our cast iron on the grill when making burgers during the summer and Stephen tells me to just rub the cast iron down and not actually wash it. So is wiping out the pan the only way to clean it? I would love to cook out of our cast iron more and the chicken you made makes my mouth water. Also how do you re-season an old cast iron?

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  2. Just saw your method of re-seasoning on Facebook! No need to repeat yourself!:-)

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  3. I'm actually making a post about it too (eventually, I keep saving it as a draft and publishing other things) that will go into more detail. As for washing, don't use soap because that removes the seasoning. If the pan needs to be washed just use hot water. If something is stuck to the pan (which is rare if it's well seasoned) my favorite removal method is to put a little water in the pan and heat it - not to boiling, just till hot. Then you scrub it and anything stuck just melts right off!

    Hope that helps :)

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  4. Awesome! Thanks for the advice! Looking forward to the seasoning post that is waiting in your drafts!

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