My son has decided we need to cook more often in a cast iron skillet. I'm not sure why he cares, but it's all good here. I love one pan meals and this dish is great. Introducing Garlic Maple Chipotle Chicken!
If you've never used a cast iron skillet, you don't know what you're missing. It's a super heat conducting powerhouse - you can throw it on the stove, into the oven, on the grill...we even cook on the smoker with it. I have an awesome recipe for a smoked berry cobbler that cooks in the pan while you eat dinner - amazing, but more on that another time...
This recipe felt like I was doing a lot but honestly, it came together quickly.
I used chicken legs for this recipe and thought they turned out really nicely. I started prepping by mixing the wet and dry ingredients for coating. I also peeled garlic and cut some small potatoes and onion slices - none of it was difficult, it just took a few minutes.
After that, I had to coat the chicken. I started with some simple salt and pepper, then coated with a dry flour mix, dipped into the egg mixture and back into the flour. This double coating was very light and flaky and was perfect on the legs. Just a half a cup of oil and some medium high heat on the pan was all I needed to get a nice crisp coating on the chicken.
Once they were nicely browned, I moved them out of the pan and cooked the potatoes.
I gave the potatoes a few minutes head start and then added in the onions and garlic. It was an awesome aroma from the pan. I cooked the mixture for about 10 minutes as the folks in my family don't like crunchy onions, and then the chicken was added back into the pan and the whole thing goes into a 375º oven for about an hour. The internal temperature of the finished chicken should be about 175º and the potatoes should be tender. The timing on the dish will depend on the size of your pieces of chicken as well as the size of your potatoes. For me, I let it go the full 60 minutes and everything was done right.
While the chicken was cooking, I whipped up the maple chipotle glaze.
If you've never played around with chipotle peppers, know this - they are hot! Chipotle peppers are nothing more than smoked jalapenos. And while you are dicing them up very small, you may want to wear some gloves or hand protection because touching them, especially the seeds, is not a good idea. If you don't go this route, be prepared to wash your hands - a lot - and still have troubling residue. And whatever you do, don't touch your eyes!
Oddly enough, though, as spicy as the peppers are, they really offer a subtle heat to the glaze. It's not too much at all - and pay attention to the adobo sauce, you won't want to omit it. In fact, spoon some out and throw in a bit more. Adobe sauce has a nice smoky flavor and it will enhance the taste of the glaze.
Once the skillet comes out of the oven, you'll just need to brush the glaze across the chicken and you are ready to serve!
I steamed a quick vegetable side dish to serve with the chicken and potatoes and it was delicious and easy. The roasted garlic cloves and the onions are also good to eat and I scooped them up with the potatoes for a tasty side as well. And you can't beat the cleanup of a one pot skillet meal!
So give Garlic Maple Chipotle Chicken a try if you are looking for an easy meal! Come back and let me know what you think!
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