Sticky Chicken Thighs with Ginger and Garlic

Beloved by home cooks and professionals alike, the cast iron skillet is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment in your kitchen arsenal. Perfect for every meal of the day, the cast iron pan can be used to cook eggs, sear meat, roast whole dinners, and serve up dessert warm from the oven.

Unlike artificially nonstick pans that contain harmful chemicals, the cast-iron pan is naturally nonstick. So go ahead and let the pan work its magic to sear, sizzle, roast, fry, and caramelize—introducing big and bold restaurant-quality flavours into your one-pan meals.

Bestselling author Anne Byrn has carefully curated 160 recipes to be made in one simple 12-inch cast-iron skillet. These are dishes everyone can enjoy, from appetizers and breads like Easy Garlic Skillet Knots to side dishes like Last-Minute Scalloped Potatoes, from brunch favourites to one-pot suppers like Skillet Eggplant Parmesan and Sticky Chicken Thighs with Ginger and Garlic.

And of course, no Anne Byrn cookbook would be complete without her innovative cakes like Georgia Burnt Caramel Cake, cookies like Brown Sugar Skillet Blondies, and pies and other delicious treats.

Scattered throughout are fun tidbits about the origin of the cast iron skillet and how to properly season and care for them. Anne Byrn has crafted an informational, adaptable, and deliciously indispensable guide to skillet recipes the whole family is sure to love.

ANNE BYRN is the bestselling author of more than a dozen cookbooks, including The Cake Mix Doctor and American Cake. Formerly food editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a graduate of Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris, Byrn is a frequent contributor to Food 52, The Local Palate, and The Bitter Southerner. She is the mother of three grown children and lives with her husband in Nashville, Tennessee, in an old limestone home built by her grandfather in 1928.

Skillet Love

Skillet Love: From Steak to Cake: More Than 150 Recipes in One Cast-Iron Pan is available at Amazon.com and Indigo.

Sticky Chicken Thighs with Ginger and Garlic

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Prep: 20 minutes / Marinate: As little as 20 minutes or up to 4 hours / Cook: 55 to 60 minutes

The iron skillet loves recipes in which the marinade and sauce cook and caramelize in the pan. When this simple sauce of honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger simmers down, it gets syrupy and sticky. Chicken thighs are basted with these sticky pan juices, turning the chicken a gorgeous mahogany colour. What’s left of the sauce can be served over the chicken and rice and is even more delicious the next day.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

½ cup honey (see Note)

½ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

Steamed white rice, for serving

Green onion slivers, for garnish

Trim the chicken thighs of excess fat, and put them in a medium glass bowl or zipper-lock bag.
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and soy sauce. Fold in the garlic and ginger. Pour the marinade mixture over the chicken thighs and turn to coat. Cover the bowl or seal the bag and let the chicken marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes or in the fridge for up to 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour the chicken and marinade into a 12-inch skillet. Tuck the edges of the chicken under to form rounded thighs that dome in the center. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the skillet and turn the chicken, basting with the pan juices. Return to the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the oven and place it over medium-low heat. Let the chicken and marinade simmer, turning the chicken every 2 or 3 minutes, until the marinade thickens, 15 to 20 minutes. The chicken will have turned a mahogany colour, and the juices will be syrupy and sticky. Serve with rice, and garnish with slivers of green onion.

NOTE: Spray a liquid measuring cup with vegetable oil before measuring honey. The oil keeps the honey from sticking to the cup.