Question about braising chicken
I'm wondering if people here leave the skin on in braised or other chicken dishes that don't result with a crispy skin.
I make a dish with chicken with potatoes, lemons, onions, garlic, oregano and Greek olive oil that is an attempt to recreate something I had in Greece many years ago. I always buy free range chicken with the bones still in to get as much flavor as I can. But when the skin isn't crisp, I don't want to eat it, even though there is a lot of flavor left on the skin. I'm wondering if I wouldn't do better to remove the skin before cooking so some of that flavor better penetrates the meat.
I make this different ways. Sometimes I just put everything in the oven. Last time I browned the chicken in a cast iron skillet, added the other ingredients, and then put it in the over to finish. Because the skillet isn't big enough to allow everything to spread out, the skin didn't remain crisp, though it still had flavor from browning.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
= new reply since forum marked as read
the oven.
However, even if it's not going to be crispy, I like to cook with it on. I think the fat adds an irreplaceable flavor and actually insulates the meat from drying to some extent.
But I generally take it off before eating, because I know it's not that good for me and if it's not tasty, I can skip it.
Edited to add: You can always put the broiler on at the end to crisp up that skin.
