Confit Chicken Legs with Yogurt + Fennel Slaw
The poor man’s duck confit ( but also maybe his best kept secret???). This dish feels and tastes elevated without the price tag. We served these confit chicken legs at Supper Club last June and it was a crowd pleaser! Make sure to squeeze the confit garlic cloves onto the chicken or a slice of bread as you eat. Recipe adapted from Andy’s Baraghani’s cookbook, The Cook You Want To Be.
Ingredients
For the chicken:
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (at room temp.)
Salt
Black pepper
2 garlic heads, sliced in half shortways
4 shallots, sliced in half through the root end
12 oz. cherry tomatoes on the vine (do not remove the vine!)
2 lemons, quartered
8 jarred Calabrian chiles, sliced in half longways
4 rosemary sprigs
2 cups olive oil
Sherry vinegar
For the Lemony Yogurt:
1 cup whole fat Greek yogurt
The zest and juice of half a lemon
Salt
Black pepper
1 garlic clove, grated
For the Fennel Slaw:
1 head of fennel thinly sliced (or sliced on a mandoline, paper thin)
Half a lemon
2 tbsp. finely chopped dill
Salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
Make it!
Pre-heat the oven to 325°F.
Season the chicken legs all over with several big pinches of salt. Add a few cranks of black pepper and let rest while you prep.
Add the chicken into a 9x13 baking dish and place the garlic, shallots, tomatoes, chiles, lemons, and rosemary around it. Add the olive oil until the chicken is fully submerged (you may need slightly more or less). Bake for 1.5 to 2 hours, until the chicken is falling off the bone. Remove from oven to cool.
While the chicken bakes, make your lemony yogurt and fennel slaw. For the yogurt, add all ingredients into a bowl and mix. Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice. For the slaw, slice or mandoline the fennel and immediately squeeze lemon juice on top to prevent browning. Add the fennel to a separate bowl and mix with dill, a few pinches of salt and olive oil. Cover and store both in the fridge until serving.
When you’re ready to serve, remove the chicken legs from the olive oil and place skin side up onto a sheet pan. Place a rack on the very top of the oven and turn on the broiler. Broil the skin for about 2 minutes, closely watching and rotating the pan as needed. You want it to be crispy, but not too charred!
To serve, smear a half moon of yogurt into each bowl. Place the chicken leg on top. Carefully remove the garlic halves, shallots, tomatoes, chiles and lemons from the oil and arrange around each chicken leg. Splash some sherry vinegar on everything and drizzle a little extra oil on top too. Add a handful of fennel slaw and enjoy!
*You can strain the leftover oil and save in the fridge for one month. Use it for this method again or to cook eggs, potatoes, rice, etc.
