Jacques Pépin's Moist and Crispy Garlic Chicken Recipe | Cooking at Home | KQED

Jacques Pépin’s Chicken in Vinegar, Lyon-Style

Ingredients

• 2 bone-in chicken thighs, about 8 oz (225 g) each
• Salt and pepper
• 3 garlic cloves (about 1–1½ tablespoons when crushed and chopped)
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• About 2 tablespoons water
• A couple of tablespoons ketchup, to thicken the sauce
• A dash of Tabasco
• A few olives, optional
• Chives, for serving

Equipment and Preparation

Use a nonstick pan with a lid. Cut down along both sides of each thigh bone to expose it, which helps the chicken cook. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Method

1. Brown and cook the chicken: Place the thighs skin-side down in a cold pan without adding fat. Start over high heat to render the fat and brown the skin. Once the skin has rendered some fat and is no longer actively frying, cover the pan and reduce the heat to very low. Cook for about 20–25 minutes total, without turning the chicken. At around 20 minutes, check for a good brown crust and give it another 3–5 minutes if needed.
2. Prepare the garlic: Trim the ends and crush the cloves so their skins come off easily, then chop them. Pépin notes that crushed garlic becomes stronger and gooier than sliced garlic.
3. Make the sauce: Move the chicken to a plate, keeping it skin-side up. Add the garlic to the pan and fry it in the rendered fat for 20–30 seconds. Add the vinegar and deglaze over relatively high heat, letting it reduce for about 20–30 seconds, until nearly gone and its sharp acidity has evaporated. Add the water, ketchup, and Tabasco.
4. Finish and serve: Add olives if desired and adjust the sauce with a little salt. Spoon sauce over the chicken if serving immediately; otherwise, serve it around the chicken to help keep the skin crisp. Finish with chives.

Tip: The chicken is never turned: it cooks through while covered, leaving the skin browned and crunchy.

Presenter and source: Jacques Pépin, on KQED’s Cooking at Home. Pépin describes the dish as a specialty of Lyon, France.