Thrifty Meal - Pan Fried Chicken Thighs

by nadialtbr in Cooking > Main Course

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Thrifty Meal - Pan Fried Chicken Thighs

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Food prices are going up and up every day. This meal is as delicious as it's cheap.  
Chicken thighs run at about $4 for 10 thighs. Can't get cheaper than that! and we are making chicken broth out of the bones. Use the broth and leftover rice to make soup the next day. Two meals for the price of one. 

Ingredients:

- 5 chicken thighs
- 1/2 cup of white vinegar
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Dried oregano
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 cups of water

Side dishes

Rice:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Authentic-Brazilian-rice/

Salsa:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Tomato-salsa/

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In a bowl, add the thighs and vinegar. 

With scissors or a sharp paring knife, debone the thighs. No need to be be perfect, just slice the meat out of the bone. Keep the skin intact.

Rinse the deboned chicken thighs.

Add the bones and any extra skin to a pot. Cover it with 2 cups of water. Put it on the back burner at a low temp. Let it simmer while you cook the thighs.

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Season the chicken. Use the same seasonings on the stock, as much or as little as you'd like.

Now, the trick to this is a nice non stick pan. The quality of the pan will make a difference in the end product. I was never able to make this dish until I got a good, heavy non-stick. So, heat up your nonstick, add one tablespoon of olive oil to it. 

Place the chicken skin side up on the hot fry pan. Cook on a medium-low heat for 10 minutes without disturbing it too much. Turn it skin side down, repeat.

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Turn it every 10 minutes, it takes about 40 minutes to cook.

Remove the chicken from the fry pan. Carefully add the fat to the stock pot, leaving the crispy bits into the fry pan. Add a couple spoonful of cooked rice to the fry pan and "deglaze" it. 

Plate the deglazed rice, a chicken thigh and some fresh salsa. Bom Apetite!!


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Keep the broth on a low simmer while you eat your dinner and clean up. Total cooking time of about an hour and a half.
Strain out the bones and bits of skin. Refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to use it, skim the congealed fat off the top. And there you have it, low fat, homemade chicken broth. Add some leftover rice, chopped parsley and sliced chicken thigh for a nourishing lunch.

Homemade and cheap, but of so good.