If you have never purchased chicken with the skin on and bone in, you must try these chicken thighs the way Jacques Pépin cooks them – skin side down in a dry non-stick pan on high heat, then covered for 16-18 minutes. Using the same pan make a mushroom sauce in 5 minutes with onion, garlic and mushrooms.
Recipe
4 large chicken thighs, skin on (about 1-3/4 lbs.)
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 c. diced (1/4-inch) onion
1-1/2 T. coarsely chopped garlic
3 c. washed and diced (1/2-inch) baby bella or white mushrooms
1/3 c. dry white wine
1 T. chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Arrange the chicken thighs skin side down on a cutting board. Using a sharp paring knife, trim off any excess skin at the edges and cut about 1/2-inch deep into the flesh on either side of the thigh bone. This will help the meat cook more quickly. Sprinkle the thighs with 1/2 tsp. each of the salt and pepper and arrange skin side down in one layer in a nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid.
Place the skillet over high heat and when the thighs start to sizzle reduce the heat to medium, cover tightly and cook for 16-18 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure the chicken is browning properly. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 150-degrees. If the chicken seems to be cooking too fast after 10 minutes or so, reduce the heat to low. The skin should be very crisp and brown. Transfer the chicken skin side up to an ovenproof platter and place it in the oven.
Discard all but 2 T. fat from the skillet in which you cooked the chicken. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms and sauté over high heat for about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper on the mushrooms and then add the wine and any liquid that has accumulated around the thighs on the platter. Cook the sauce over high heat for about 1 minute to reduce the liquid.
To serve, divide the sauce among four hot plates. Place a thigh in the middle of the mushroom sauce on each plate, spoon some sauce over, sprinkle on the chives, and serve.
– Jacques Pépin, "More Fast Food My Way"