This is such a great recipe. I was in the downward spiral of watching YouTube videos and I saw NY Times Alison Roman’s Chicken confit video. (You can watch it here)

I wanted to try something different with my chicken hindquarters, so I essentially dropped everything I was doing and made something like hers. I never actually got to see her recipe, so if you find it let me know so that I can compare notes!

The selling point for me was that, even though you’re adding a cup (maybe more depending on your cooking vessel) of Extra virgin olive oil, you can reuse ALL of that oil goodness to impart some extra flavor on anything else that you are roasting, frying, or cooking. Which made some DELICIOUS roasted Brussels sprouts, sautéed broccoli, and some amazing carrots and potatoes. My next plan is to use this delicious umami bomb is to make some polenta. The possibilities are endless.

Here’s my version of this chicken confit:

Ingredients:

• Carrots (as many of little as you want) cut lengthwise and then cut in the middle.
• 1 bunch of oregano
• 1 lemon cut in slices (you will have a bitter taste if you do not take those seeds away.)
• 1 cup (or more depending on your cooking vessel) of Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 heads of garlic cut in half.
• 4 chicken hindquarters
• 1 shallot
• Potatoes for a side dish (I essentially put them in my cast iron and cooked them alongside the chicken) optional. You can use whatever you want for a side dish.

How to do it:

• Preheat oven for 350. You will cook this for 65 minutes. So make sure you have what you’re going to watch/do. Clean the hindquarters if needed.
• By cleaning them, I am talking about the fat layer that can sometimes be in the hindquarters in the bottom. I took that out because if not, the chicken would not sink into the olive oil and you want for them to sink as much as you can.

For this recipe I used a 4.5 qt dish, you can use a cast iron if it all fits as well.

• Arrange the chicken first, then add the rest of the ingredients. You want the ingredients to somewhat push the chicken down and then in the nooks and crannies add the rest. As you can see in the picture, I placed the garlic, shallots, and oregano in those nooks and crannies and layers the lemon on top, There is no right or wrong way to do this at all, so just assemble as you see fit.

Place the chicken in the oven (it should be at 350) for 65 degrees. The chicken will brown, but not as much. The chicken would be beautifully tender. If for some reason your chicken is not as tender or you want to brown more, you can place it back in the oven for 10 more minutes.

The chicken will be moist even if you keep it in the oven for 30 more minutes. It all depends on your oven! If you want to check the chicken to get a sense of what is happening you can do so!

Oven roasted potatoes.

• In a bowl, add the potatoes (I cut them lengthwise) and season them with salt and pepper (I had some extra oregano, so I added that as well). I added a little bit of oil so that it does not stick. Add them with the chicken to that 350 degree oven. I checked the chicken and potatoes after the 30 minute mark.