By Ali Slagle
For pull-apart tender chicken with crisp, deeply spiced skin, rub it with a spicy-sweet mix and roast it low and slow while you’re doing something else. Because this chicken is cooked at a moderately low temperature, the spices will bloom but not burn, and the chicken fat will render slowly and completely (which means you don’t need any oil). The smoky rub in this recipe will turn the chicken skin into what tastes like a barbecue potato chip.
INGREDIENTS
Yield:4 servings
- 4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- A heaping ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
- 4 chicken leg quarters (2½ to 3 pounds), patted dry
PREPARATION
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, paprika, salt, black pepper and cayenne with a fork or your fingers. Rub the spice mix all over the chicken. (You can do this step 1 to 12 hours ahead. Refrigerate uncovered, then bring to room temperature before cooking.)
- Place the chicken on a parchment-lined baking sheet, skin side up. Bake, without flipping, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Eat the chicken with pan drippings spooned over top.
Note: I used chicken thighs (with skin and bone), regular paprika, and some hot pepper flakes. So good!!!!
My Picky Mother 