Easy Breezy Broiled Chicken

A couple years ago, Omer and I went to Brewster's in the suburbs of Chicago. I have no recollection of where it is, I just remember it was my first time eating broiled chicken with skin- American style with mash potatoes and corn. I don't remember how it tasted but recently when Zabihah chicken legs went on sale for 99 cents a pound, I thought of roasting them whole with skin and dedicate it to Brewster's.  

Broiling chicken is a breeze, as long as you have a nice layer of delicious fat on the legs that will melt and flavor the chicken itself this is a no fail recipe. I have a gas broiler, and usually like to think of it as a upside down grill since there is an actual flame that heats the food from above, as opposed to a grill that heats it from the bottom. I would recommend using a broiler rack and pan for this so that the chicken isn't drenched in it's own fat but falls into the collection tray.

Ingredients:

Salt and Pepper
Chicken legs and thigh (preferably with the back too), with skin and fat intact.
Garlic gloves (one for each leg you cook)
Broiler rack and pan  (line your pan with tin foil for easy clean up!)

First I would recommend washing and drying your chicken. There is a little grove on the back side of the thigh that usually has a little bit of bloody gunk (sorry no other way to explain it). If you bake, roast, grill your chicken this blob of blood kind of curdles and its pretty gross. Many of you have probably never noticed this, but I think it's an important step to make sure the chicken legs are clean. It takes two seconds to clean, just scoop the cavity out and rinse off your chicken.                                                  

Once the chicken is dry (pat it dry with a paper towel if you're in a hurry), season both sides of the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Take the clove of garlic and place it under the skin of the chicken. It'll give your chicken a subtle flavor of garlic but if you want something more garlicky just place as many cloves you want under the skin. Try your own blend of seasonings and don't be shy to experiment. This is just the most basic recipe you can possibly start with, but you can season with cumin, garlic salt, oregano, rosemary, onion powder, lemon pepper.. the possibilities are endless!

 
On the top side of the meat, cut a few down the leg through the skin and meat.

I didn't have a broiler pan, so I just used a foil lined pan. If the chicken is really fatty you might want to check on your chicken periodically to see if you need to drain some of the grease, I luckily didn't have to.

Place your chicken skin side down and roast underneath the broiler on high for 6-8 minutes. (you may want to adjust your oven rack to make sure the chicken is not to close the broiler to burn, and that if any grease spits up it doesn't cause a grease fire). Flip the chicken, broil for another 6-8 minutes, if your skin isn't crispy enough raise the oven rack broil it under the direct heat for just a minute.




Check to see if your chicken is done, each broiler has their own maximum temperature but around 8 minutes on each side works for me. To be absolutely positive you will not get food poisoning, use a meat thermometer- legs should reach 180 degrees.

On this particular day I served my broiled chicken with orzo (pasta that looks like rice), this recipe was just a quick toss of cooked orzo, chopped tomatoes, diced mozzarella cheese, and Italian salad dressing. Enjoy!