This is a recipe that is my take on one I found from Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, Chicken Paillard or as we call it French Fried Chicken. Paillard is an older french term referring to a quick-cooking, thinly sliced or pounded piece of meat similar to German Schnitzel.
I like to use skin on chicken thighs so I usually have to buy bone in but every once in a while I can find boneless skin on thighs. When using the bone in I use a very sharp knife and carefully remove the bone making sure to leave the skin intact. Place the deboned chicken thighs between 2 pieces of wax paper or as I like to do inside a freezer size plastic bag and pound with a mallet thin to about 1/2 inch thickness.
Preheat oven to 400°. Add clarified butter to a large oven safe skillet over medium-high heat. If you don’t have clarified butter just melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan and spoon of the milk solids(the white foam) as it melts.
Season both sides with salt, pepper and dry mustard. Dust both sides with Wondra flour. Wondra flour is a brand of quick mixing flour often used for thickening sauces and gravies because it wont seize and clump up resulting in a nice smooth sauce. I really like to use Wondra as a breading when I want a light crisp coating.
Once the clarified butter begins to shimmer in the skillet add the flour dusted chicken to the skillet skin side down. Allow to cook until skin is crispy roughly 5-6 minutes. It helps to occasionally press down on the chicken with a spatula to ensure the skin side stays in even contact with the skillet.
Flip the chicken and place in the preheated oven. Allow to roast in the skillet until cooked thru, 3-4 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a plate and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve and squeeze lemon wedge over the chicken.
INGREDIENTS
4 bone in skin on chicken thighs
salt and pepper
dry mustard
Wondra flour
4 lemon wedges
3 tablespoon butter (clarified)
