Roast Chicken with Pancetta

Skinless boneless chicken thighs are a great deal but they certainly need to be prepared in just the right way or they're as tough as nails. I've got to tell you - last night's dinner smelled so darn good when it was cooking in the oven, I wish I had cooked buckets of it instead of just 4 lonely pieces. That darn chicken was unbelievably tender and flavorful. Imagine that?

   

 
I gave the chicken pieces a good wash and dry then shoved them into a zip bag along with olive oil, chopped fresh thyme and rosemary, coarse sea salt, and red pepper flakes (of course). After giving the whole thing a good massage, I dumped it into my favorite 9 inch cast iron pan, topped the chicken thighs with pancetta and garlic, surrounded them with quartered red potatoes and put the whole shebang in a 425 oven for 45 minutes. After 30 minutes when they'd just started to brown up, everything got a dribble of white wine and before you know it dinner was on the table - great smelling, good lookin' and fabulous tasting. Download Roasted Chicken with Pancetta

Now I'm sure you could use regular side bacon instead of pancetta if you're so inclined, but the flavor of that good Italian "bacon" really makes a difference. Because pancetta is unsmoked pork belly that's been cured in salt and spices including nutmeg, pepper and fennel and then dried for a few months, it brings a lot of flavor to the party without the smokiness of regular bacon. Along with the sweet garlic cloves and crispy roasted potatoes, I can't brag enough about this dish. It is simple mouth watering peasant food.

I whipped up a waldorf salad to go along with our dinner, but honestly this particular salad was just a little different from the normally sweet waldorf. From Bon Appetit via epicurious.com it combines the usual Granny Smith apples and sliced celery with the unusual dried cranberries, sliced radishes and red onion. Dressed in a light lemony mayo it served as a palate refresher and tasted wonderfully cool next to the spicy/herbie/garlicky chicken. Download Waldorf Salad with Cranberries

Comments

[Nanan]

Thighs are a staple here - our favorite - gonna have to try this!!! Looks great Junie!! And what a refreshing salad!!! Great ideas as always!!!

[Mags]

Oh my, that chicken and potatoes looks so delicious. And I'm really digging the radishes in your Waldorf salad. I've never heard of that before but it sounds so interesting.

[June]

Lea - Salad's a real keeper and so good for you too.

Mags - I know who'da thunk radishes in a Waldorf and I'm not much of a radish fan, but they were really OK. Big guy thought it was divoon!