ina garten’s skillet-roasted chicken & potatoes

Similar to many people, during quarantine I’ve been cooking even more than normal. With this, I’m constantly searching for and trying new recipes. Some work out well and others are failures. I figured since I am spending so much time scavenging through recipes on Pinterest, the Food Network, and my large selection of cookbooks (some could say too large), I’d start to share the recipes here that have worked for me and the ones that didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Hopefully, it can help you weed through the vast recipe options available to you.

Since we have had a few cold and rainy days in New York this week, I was looking for hearty comfort foods that slow-cook or, better yet, need the oven so that my chilly house gets a boost of warmth. This recipe from Ina Garten’s latest cookbook, Modern Comfort Food, seemed to check all those boxes: sliced potatoes and buttermilk-marinated chicken thighs get slow-roasted together in a skillet before being showered in fresh herbs at the end.

Any time a main and side dish get to cook together in one pan gets a serious thumbs-up from me: fewer things to monitor and dishes to wash.

My review of the recipe:

Of course, the queen of comfort food delivers again. This was a really great dinner that hit all my comfort food cravings: the chicken was well-seasoned, moist, and really flavorful.

But the star of the show? The humble slices of potatoes underneath. As everything cooked together, the buttermilk separated and the potatoes absorbed some of it and the juices coming out of the chicken. The potatoes were just slightly tangy in a mouthwatering way, but full of savory chicken flavor, perfectly seasoned and with a hint of garlic.

Rating: 9/10

Some thoughts about the recipe:

The recipe calls for four large bone-in chicken thighs that weigh 2 1/2 to 3 pounds total. This size is absolutely enormous, verging on chicken breast territory! My grocery store didn’t have anything close to that size, so I just bought four chicken thighs which came to about 1.85 lbs. I recommend buying what will fit comfortably in your skillet without crowding so that the potatoes get a chance to brown.