Pepperoncini Chicken

(This post brought to you by Jen.)

Many of the dishes that I cook at home are meals that Marc taught me.  I'll happily share them with you! 

This is a dish that is one of our favorites, and talk about easy to make!  Pepperoncini chicken is a dish that once you try it, you'll crave it's simplicity and spicy nature.

Hardware Needed:
Roasting Pan (or Large Casserole Dish and Saute Pan)
Tongs

My roasting pan is large enough to fit on the stovetop and cover two burners, so for me, this is a one pan dish (read - easy clean up!!!).  If your roasting pan is not large enough, you can do several batches in a saute pan and transfer into a casserole dish.

Ingredients Needed:
1 club pack chicken thighs (trimmed of excess skin or fully remove skin if you like)
1 32 oz jar pepperoncinis, including juice
3-4 cups chicken stock, optional
6 cloves garlic
Salt and Pepper
Oil

Preheat oven to 350.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  (You don't have to use thighs.  If you want to use legs or quarters, that would be great.  Breast is okay, but doesn't quite have the same flavor.  I would stick to the dark meat of chicken for this dish.) 

Over med-high to high heat, drizzle oil in the pan.  Place the chicken skin side down and brown, about 5-7 minutes.  Turn and repeat on the other side. 

When chicken is browned off, pour in jar of pepperoncinis.  (You can use more than 1 jar if you want).  The liquid should come about 1/2 way up the chicken.  If you want to tame the spice level of the pepperoncini, you can add chicken stock.  Put garlic in pan, scattered around the chicken.

Place pan in the oven.  After about 30 minutes, remove and turn chicken over.  Repeat every 30 minutes until the chicken has cooked for 90 minutes.  (This may seem like overkill, but the flavor imparted on the chicken is so good, that you won't want to use less time.)  The meat will literally fall off the bone.

Let rest for 5-10 minutes before eating.  Serve with a side salad or your favorite macaroni and cheese.  The creamy texture of mac-n-cheese is the perfect compliment for this lightly spicy dish.

Enjoy!