Chicken Skin Garnish Recipes

CRISPY CHICKEN SKINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Gently pull the skin off the chicken breasts (reserve the breast meat for another use), pat dry and cut in thirds lengthwise. Place them skin-side up in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
• Mix the salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary together in a small bowl, crushing the spices with a spoon. Sprinkle the chicken skins with some of the spice mix; it makes more than you need, but you can keep it for another day. Cover the skins with a layer of parchment and top with a baking sheet to weigh it down, making sure the top sheet presses down on the skins.
• Bake until the skins are browned and crisp, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and parchment and transfer the skins to a plate lined with paper towel to cool and crisp up.

CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN SKIN

Steps:

• Place chicken skins in a large stockpot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, scrape off excess fat and cut skin into 1/2-inch wide strips.
• Place skin on a baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 8 hours.
• Heat oil in a large stockpot to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lower a handful of skins carefully into the hot oil. Fry until crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining chicken skin.

CRISPY SKIN CHICKEN WITH DILL AND GARLIC SAUCE

Steps:

• Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 325°F. Pat chicken halves dry with paper towels and season generously all over with salt. Arrange, skin side up, on 2 wire racks set inside 2 baking sheets so that you have 2 chicken halves on each rack. Roast chickens, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until just golden and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breasts registers 150°F, 45-50 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pulse garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Heat 1 cup oil in a small saucepan over medium until shimmering. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until softened and slightly darker, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl. Stir in Aleppo-style pepper and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Set garlic oil aside for serving.
• Fit a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot with deep-fry thermometer. Heat remaining 2 cups vegetable oil over medium-high until thermometer registers 350°F. Fry shallots, stirring often, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Using a fine-mesh sieve or spider, transfer shallots to paper towels to drain; season with salt. Remove pot from heat if chicken hasn't finished roasting yet.
• As soon as chickens are done, remove from oven and lightly dab with paper towels to remove as much moisture from the underside as possible (this will prevent them from spattering too much when you put them in the hot oil). Reheat shallot oil to 350°F if needed. Working with 1 half at a time and maintaining oil temperature between batches, fry chickens, skin side down, until skin is crisp and deeply browned, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to clean wire racks as you go; season lightly with salt.
• Meanwhile, combine potatoes and 2 Tbsp. salt in another large pot and pour in cold water to cover by 1". Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are very tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 10-15 minutes, depending on size of potatoes. Drain and return potatoes to the same pot. Gently press down on potatoes to break up slightly. Add 1/3 cup reserved garlic oil, season with salt, and toss to combine.
• Transfer potatoes to a small platter. Drizzle with some more garlic oil. Cut chicken halves into pieces and arrange on a large platter. Drizzle chicken with some garlic oil, then sprinkle dill and fried shallots over. Serve with any remaining garlic oil alongside.

CHICKEN-SKIN CANAPéS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Carefully remove the skin from the chicken thighs without tearing. Set skinned thighs aside for another use or freeze them. Line a 9-by-13-inch rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread half the skin pieces on the paper. Season with salt and pepper. Top with another piece of parchment, and then place a second sheet pan on top to weigh down the skin. If you have enough pans, repeat to make one more tray of skins. Otherwise wait until the first batch is done.
• Place layered pans with skin in the oven and bake about 50 minutes. Skin should be golden brown. If not, return pans to the oven for another 10 minutes. If using two pans, rotate halfway through baking.
• Place cooked chicken skins on a sheet of paper towel, blot and set aside until cool. If needed, cook second batch. Once cool, use a sharp knife to cut each piece of skin in four, trimming any ragged edges. Set aside in a covered container until ready to use.
• Spread cheese onto crisp chicken skin squares and serve. If using blue cheese spread, garnish each with a piece of celery before serving.

CHICKEN-SKIN GARNISH

Steps:

• Place the chicken skin between two lined sheet trays, and render in a 400-degree oven until all the fat has liquefied and you are left with crispy, delicious fried chicken skins. Save the fat. Remove the skins, and season with salt while still warm. Set aside.
• Zest all the lemons into a small bowl, then cut the lemon in thirds and squeeze the juice into the same bowl, taking care to catch the seeds. Toss into this bowl the parsley, slivered shallot, a small spoonful of the rendered chicken fat and large pieces of the fried chicken skin. Season to taste.