New York Times bestselling author and former cover model Cristina Ferrare celebrates the debut of her new cooking show on the Oprah Winfrey Network Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love, with a new cookbook. Her latest release, which shares the same title as her new show, celebrates family and friends with more than 150 simple recipes, beginning with savory appetizers, such as her Spicy Tuna Tartare on Sliced Cucumbers or Ruffled Chips, and moving all the way through desserts, like her sublime Peach Crumble. Ferrare's recipe for Fall-Off-the-Bone Roasted Chicken Thighs, below, is one of our favorites.
Read more about great food with books about Ferran Adria and Amy Finley.
I'm a dark meat lover, and I love chicken thighs. These are roasted until the meat falls off the bone.
I usually double this recipe because I like to have plenty of leftover thigh meat; it makes great sandwiches, tacos and taco salads and is delicious shredded in soup.
A vegetable couscous is lovely with this dish.
3 cups chicken stock, homemade or store-bought organic chicken broth
12 chicken thighs, washed and dried
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fines herbes
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
Kosher salt
Cracked pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place chicken thighs in a baking dish.
Combine Dijon mustard, lemon juice, soy sauce, and olive oil, and pour over the chicken. Turn the thighs to coat evenly.
Sprinkle on the fines herbes and the fennel seeds; then sprinkle on several pinches of kosher salt and plenty of cracked pepper.
Cover with aluminum foil, and roast for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and baste. Add 2 cups of chicken stock and stir to turn up any of the bits that have formed at the bottom of the roasting pan. Baste again with a bulb baster.
Continue to roast for 60 minutes more, basting every 15 minutes to keep the chicken supermoist. The thighs will turn a beautiful caramel color. If you find that the bottom of the roasting pan is dry, add the rest of the chicken stock.
Serves 6.
Cook's Note: I always try to use fresh herbs such as oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and sage in all my cooking, but I like using dried fines herbes for this. You can find them in the spice aisle of your market. I like the fact that the herbs are tiny and can be baked right on the skin, giving the chicken and the pan juices a more intense flavor.
