Hot Honey Chicken

Ingredients

• 8bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, patted very dry
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1/3 cuphoney
• 3 tbsphot sauce, a vinegary cayenne one
• 1 ozunsalted butter
• 2 clovesgarlic, minced

Method

1. 1

   Pat the thighs dry on both sides with paper towels and season them all over with the salt and pepper. Dry skin is the entire difference between crisp and flabby, and a wet thigh will not crisp no matter how hot the pan is.

2. 2

   Lay the thighs skin down in a large dry skillet, then turn the heat to medium. Starting cold lets the fat under the skin render out slowly instead of seizing, and that rendered fat is what fries the skin. Leave them alone for 15 minutes.

3. 3

   The skin should be deep golden and stiff. Turn the thighs over and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the thickest part reaches 165°F. Move them to a plate, skin up, and pour off all but about a tablespoon of the fat.

4. 4

   Turn the heat to low. Add the garlic to the pan and stir for twenty seconds, then the honey, the hot sauce and the butter. Swirl until the butter has melted into a glossy sauce and it has thickened just enough to coat the back of a spoon, about a minute. Do not let it boil hard or the honey turns bitter.

5. 5

   Return the thighs to the pan skin up and spoon the sauce over them. Keep the skin above the sauce rather than sitting in it, so it stays crisp until it reaches the table.