“This recipe brings me back to the days when I was first living on my own and had limited funds. If you work in the restaurant business, sometimes the best meal of your week is a staff meal provided by the restaurant. Young chefs are kind of like starving artists: Passion fuels what they do, but it’s hard to support yourself when you’re starting out. I learned early on that whole chicken legs are an affordable cut of protein that offer big flavor. I would buy a package of chicken legs, a couple of potatoes, and some hot sauce, and that would be my big meal of the week. This recipe still holds and makes my family happy—we’re fans of eating with our hands. Make sure the skin is intact on the chicken legs. The crisp skin is the best part.” —Jeremy Sewall
recipe 
yields
Serves 4 to 6
8 skin-on, bone-in whole chicken legs
¾ cup plus ¼ cup canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 russet potatoes, peeled
Hot sauce for serving, preferably green Tabasco or Cholula
Ingredients
steps
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Place one leg on a cutting board skin-side down. Cut the thigh from the leg by slicing through the joint. (There is a thin line of fat at the joint; slice down and through it and the pieces should separate easily.) If there are large pieces of skin hanging over the chicken pieces, trim them off, but be sure that the meat is still completely covered by skin. Repeat with remaining legs.
- In a large bowl, toss the chicken with ¾ cup canola oil. Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper. Arrange the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet skin-sides up. Roast for 25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet, then raise the oven temperature to 425ºF. Roast until the skin is really crisp, about 12 additional minutes. Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven; there will be hot fat in the bottom of the pan. Pour the fat from the baking sheet into a large sauté pan.
- Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut into ½-inch pieces. Add the remaining ¼ cup of canola oil to the pan with the chicken fat and place over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the potatoes to the pan and fry until they are browned on both sides and cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Taste and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed. Serve the chicken with the potatoes and pass the hot sauce on the side.
share
-
Recipe excerpted from
Everyday Chef: Simple Dishes for Family and Friends (Rizzoli)
