Contrary to the old saying, a chicken is still a bird. Which means it’s also useful product: nutritious, but quite light. In addition, it is very versatile, because chicken has found application in almost all national cuisines, even the strictest ones. Number of dishes from chicken meat It’s impossible to count, but a few, the most delicious and favorite ones, are enough for us. And most often, not the whole carcass is used for their preparation, but only the thighs. This choice is easy to explain, because chicken legs are one of the meatiest parts of the body. They can only compete with them in the amount of pulp chicken breasts, but not everyone likes them due to the complete lack of fat. So it turns out that it was the thighs that became the “record holders” in terms of the range of culinary possibilities.
The main advantage of thighs is their ease of preparation. In general, any part of the chicken cooks quickly enough, but the legs also retain their juiciness and softness. Add to this the ability to combine meat with a large number of simple side dishes, and you will understand why our compatriots, who are constantly busy with household and work chores, so often cook and eat chicken. In fairness, it should be noted that inspiration and time can turn chicken into holiday dish. As for adherents of special diets, in particular athletes, they are ready to literally pray to chicken meat as a source of lean protein. However, first things first.
Preparing Chicken Thighs
Despite the malleability of chicken meat, even it can be improved by preparing it for cooking ahead of time. The most common processing method is, of course, pickling. And it already provides enormous scope for culinary experiments. The classic marinade for chicken is the use of cream or sour cream. In modern interpretations of many housewives, mayonnaise appears, but a marinade using it sharply distances the meat from tradition at least somewhat healthy eating. Therefore, we offer you a traditional recipe for a creamy marinade:
Take a glass of 15% fat cream, a pinch of salt, a mixture of aromatic herbs and/or ground pepper. Rinse the legs with water, pat dry with a paper towel, and rub with salt and seasonings. In a deep bowl, pour cream over the meat and leave in the cold for at least a couple of hours, or better yet overnight.
In addition to cream, you can use yogurt for pickling, mineral water, vegetable oil, any spices and even tomato juice. But traditional for meat marinades dry wine and vinegar are not so good for poultry because they can dry them out and make the fibers too tough. But bee honey goes well with chicken, which is used to prepare a spicy and sweetish marinade, sauce and glaze. To prepare the honey marinade:
Take 4 full tbsp. spoons of liquid honey, 3 tbsp. spoons soy sauce, 5 tbsp. spoons vegetable oil(preferably olive, but you can get by with sunflower), 1 tbsp. a spoonful of mustard grains. The mixture of this amount of ingredients will be enough to generously lubricate 3 chicken legs medium size. Then wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
By and large, such preliminary preparation is already enough so that after it the thighs, simply fried in a frying pan, turn into a simple, but appetizing and hearty dish. But if you’re already tired of frying, and you don’t want to separate the meat from the bones and bother with cutlets, then you can try one of the proven recipes.
Chicken thigh recipes
Fried chicken legs with delicious golden brown crust or in crispy breading - a strong temptation even for sophisticated gourmets. Although such food is far from dietary, none of us can resist it. But for the sake of variety and your own health, remember and adopt at least a couple of other methods for cooking chicken:
- Chicken thighs in the oven with potatoes. For 6 legs, take 10 medium potatoes, dried paprika, ground black pepper, salt. A little vegetable oil to grease a baking sheet, onto which place the peeled and halved potatoes. Divide the legs into drumsticks and thighs, rub evenly with salt and spices, and place on top of the potatoes. Cook in the oven at 200°C until the potato pieces are soft. At the same time, they will acquire flavor due to the fat rendered from the chicken. The skin of the chicken will brown and develop a thick crust.
- Chicken thighs in foil with vegetables. This recipe is for more delicate ingredients. Take 4 thighs, half a kilogram of fresh salad peppers and ripe tomatoes, 200 grams of onions and carrots, 4 cloves of garlic, a bunch of herbs and dry spices with salt. Prepare a roll of cooking foil. Rinse and dry the meat, rub with spices, but do not add salt yet. You have 20 minutes for it to marinate a little, and in the meantime, cut the vegetables (carrots and tomatoes into small cubes, onion into half rings, garlic into slices, tomatoes into slices). Cut the foil into sheets large enough to wrap one leg of vegetables. Place meat on each sheet, onions and garlic on it, then carrots, peppers, and tomatoes on the very top. Now you can add salt, wrap in foil and place in the oven at 180°C for an hour. Use fresh herbs to serve the dish.
- Chicken thighs stuffed with cheese. High in calories, but very aromatic and juicy dish. To prepare it, take 4 legs with intact skin, 150 grams each hard cheese and mayonnaise, three cloves of garlic, dried aromatic herbs and salt. Prepare a sauce from mayonnaise, crushed garlic and a large pinch of seasonings. Cut the cheese into 4 slices. Gently lift the skin off the meat and place the cheese underneath. Place the thighs tightly on a small baking sheet, lightly salt (you can skip this step, because the cheese and sauce are already quite salty) and pour in mayonnaise. Bake in the oven at 180°C for an hour. The mayonnaise in this recipe can be replaced with sour cream, then the dish will have a milder taste.
- Chicken thighs in puff pastry. Is over complex recipe, which is suitable even for a family celebration. You will need 12 legs (or thighs without drumsticks), 1 kg puff pastry (homemade is preferable, but frozen from the store will do), about 400 g grated cheese, several cloves of garlic, spices and salt to taste, as well as 1 egg and some oil. Marinate the washed and dry chicken in a mixture of salt and spices and place in the refrigerator for half an hour. Meanwhile, roll out the dough and cut it into equal strips about 3 cm wide. Chop the garlic, mix it with grated cheese and tuck this paste under the skin of the thighs. Wrap each thigh stuffed in this way with dough in a spiral and place on a sheet greased with butter (and/or covered with baking paper). Break the egg into a glass, mix with water and brush on top of each “bun”. After 40-60 minutes of baking in the oven at 200°C, the appetizer will be ready to serve.