Chicken Leg Quarters with Panzanella
I had some whole entire chicken leg quarters, and while I’m a big fan of the way they taste and behave, they can be kind of a pain in the neck to use up. Luckily, I have ingenuity, and was prepared to figure out how to use them all over the course of a couple of days.
I started them off in sous vide bags with salt, olive oil and a healthy coating of za’atar. I sous vided them to the point where they were cooked and juicy, and then (because it was stupid and rainy outside) got them on the grill pan* to brown off and crisp up, and that was just about that for the chicken.
To go alongside it I made a panzanella. I cut some whole-grain bread very thick and got it brown on the grill pan, then cut it into cubes. I then blanched some asparagus to keep it crunchy and green and chopped it up int the salad. I added the leaves of a bunch of parsley and some torn basil. I chopped up a handful of dried figs for sweetness, and then realized that I would also need to balance that out with something that was saltier, so I decided to fry some chickpeas.
I don’t think it’s come up before, but in addition to being an absolute magic wand for potatoes, the air fryer is a boon - a veritable boon - for fried chickpeas. Instead of not quite coming out right, or being inconsistently-fried and unsatisfying, the air fryer starts with cooked chickpeas and ends with crunchy, salty, delightful little balls of snappy deliciousness. So I strained, rinsed and dried some regular old canned chickpeas**, then sprinkled them with salt and sumac, sprayed them with spray oil, and air fried them (I think 370 for sixteen minutes, shaking the basket halfway through) until they were done, and then tossed the chickpeas with the panzanella.
I made the same exact vinaigrette that I make all the time - some olive oil, salt, black pepper, mustard, rice vinegar, balsamic vinegar and pomegranate molasses, shaken in a mason jar - and then poured it over the salad.
The chicken came out perfectly - as sous vide allows for - and the panzanella, which I’ve been making a bunch of, was an absolutely delightful way to soak up some of the chicken juices and whatnot. It was a huge success with everybody, and there was plenty of bread salad to act as leftovers for the rest of the week.
* seriously, I love this thing. I’m so happy I found it. Grill pans, man. They’re the business. The actual business.
** just regular old canned chickpeas! The thing is a wonderment.