Grandma's Chicken Casserole

📝 Ingredients

• 4 skin-on chicken legs (about 250 g each)
• 150 g turkey lardons
• 800 g baby potatoes
• 4 carrots (about 75 g each)
• 2 brown onions (about 120 g each)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 chicken stock cube + 250 ml hot water
• 1 tsp dried thyme + 2 bay leaves
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large casserole dish with lid
• Kitchen knife
• Chopping board
• Peeler
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Take the chicken legs out of the fridge 15 min beforehand, pat dry with kitchen paper and salt both sides. Meanwhile, peel the carrots and cut into 3 cm pieces, quarter the onions and wash the baby potatoes without peeling them.
2. Heat the oil in the casserole over medium-high heat. Add the chicken legs skin side down, in two batches if they overlap, and leave to brown for 6 to 7 min without moving them, until the skin is golden and releases on its own. Turn them over for 2 min, then set aside on a plate.
3. Spoon off the rendered fat, leaving only about 1 tbsp in the casserole. Add the lardons and fry for 3 min over medium heat, stirring, until lightly golden.
4. Add the onions and the garlic cloves, crushed with the heel of your hand, skin on, and fry for 3 min. Add the baby potatoes and carrots, then stir for 2 min, scraping the bottom with the wooden spoon to coat them in the browned juices.
5. Crumble the stock cube into the hot water, stir and pour into the casserole. Add the thyme and bay leaves, season with pepper, then put the chicken legs back on top, skin side up, without submerging them so the skin doesn't go too soft.
6. Cover and simmer for 50 min over low heat: the liquid should simmer gently, not boil. Stir the vegetables once halfway through and add a splash of water if all the liquid has evaporated.
7. Check it's done: a knife should slide easily through the potatoes, and the juices from the leg when pierced near the bone should run clear, with no trace of pink. If not, cook for another 10 min, covered.
8. Remove the lid and let the juices reduce for 5 min over medium heat. Taste and adjust the salt (the lardons are already salty), remove the bay leaves and serve one chicken leg per person with the vegetables and cooking juices.