Fried chicken? Healthy version

Fried chicken is a staple in America.  The famous white bearded man made the "quick" version even more famous.  People eat fried chicken with biscuits and gravy and even sometimes with waffles (which I still think is weird).  To me chicken is more of a healthy protein and therefore should not be fried.  I was interested is finding chicken in the "frying" application in this cookbook but glad it was under the saute' section.  I was hoping it would be a healthier version.  Come to find out it was better than any fried chicken I ever had.  This chicken is called, "Chicken in Garlic and Shallots".  Is your mouth watering yet?  I know mine was.  The protein calls for either 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces or 10 chicken thighs.  I was not able to try to disassemble a bird so I went with the chicken thighs.  Here you can see them.  (yes I know there is 9) 

First up of course was to salt and pepper the thighs and remember chicken needs lots of salt to make sure it stays moist.  (Sorry blood pressure)

2 Tablespoons of canola oil into a hot pan and then the chicken thighs into the oil.  I find that this is kind of like creating a sear on the chicken but moreover to create a crispy skin.  Is anything better than crispy chicken skin?  Come on,  I know you all have taken a piece of turkey skin on Thanksgiving right... right?  No?  Only me?  Ok then.....

Look at that pretty golden brown color!!!!

After the chicken skin is crispy and golden brown I then removed the chicken and placed it into a ovenproof pot.  It would be nice if I had a ovenproof skillet with a top but Santa hasn't gone to Sur La Table' lately!  HINT HINT!!!!  After the chicken was put into the pot.  I poured the left over oil and then added garlic, shallots and herbs.  The herbs I used was parsley, thyme and rosemary.  You could also substitute sage but Fry's grocery store was out of course.

I then covered my pot and into to oven at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.  I know that was a long time for chicken but it was so worth it.  It smelt AMAZING!!!  Even though it was 115 degrees outside and then I had the oven running for  that long the house was even hotter the smell was worth it!  I served it with a biscuit and salad.  This picture does not do the chicken justice.  It was sooooo good.

The chicken was really moist, full of flavor with the herbs and so easy.  The best part was that I was able to use all of the left over chicken and made Chicken Broccoli the next day.  It was one of the best chicken broccoli I have made in a long time.  

I really loved this recipe because not only did it make a yummy chicken dinner which was a nice change to the boring chicken breast that we all eat so much.  The other nice thing was that it could be made with 1-100 pieces of chicken depending on the size you desire.  I was able to use 10 thighs and make 3-4 different dinners and lunches throughout the week from chicken burritos to chicken salad sandwiches.  

How do you prefer your chicken, fried, broiled, boiled, or sauted.  I choose saute'.  It seems like the best of all.