Chef Joel & Jenn: Crispy Baked Chicken w/ Mashed Potatoes

It's been a month since our last Chef Joel & Jenn, but we're hoping this is the start of many in 2017. Our first recipe is actually two recipes within one post. We've made a lot of baked chicken but usually they've involved lengthy prep for sauces. We decided we wanted to make something that would be slightly easier to make during the week. We also made some mashed potatoes to go with the dinner because Whole Foods only had bags of potatoes instead of individual, so we had plenty of potatoes to use. 

The chicken recipe is really only two steps, prep all of spices in a bowl, mix them and spread them all over the chicken thighs. I will say that the recipe calls for 1/4 teaspoon of each of the spices but it needed double that to fully season everything. Outside of that I got the oven up to 375 degrees and prepped a baking sheet, and about an hour later we had juicy crispy chicken. 

While the chicken was cooking I made the mashed potatoes. We made half a bag of the potatoes so cut the recipe in half. The recipe couldn't have been easier, we skinned and boiled the potatoes. And then it was just combining the potatoes with butter, cream cheese, and half and half, and put them in with the chicken in the oven and we had dinner.

It wasn't the fanciest dinner we've made but it was the most straightforward, and it turned out delicious. If I was to do it again I think I would make even more spice for the chicken and change from standard cream cheese to cream cheese with chives to give the potatoes a bit more flavor. All in all it was a great meal and one that I could absolutely see us making during the week. 


Recipe

Baked Chicken

INGREDIENTS

  • Cooking spray
  • 8 bone-in chicken thighs with skin
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
  • Arrange chicken thighs on prepared baking sheet.
  • Combine garlic salt, onion salt, oregano, thyme, paprika, and pepper together in a small container with a lid. Close the lid and shake container until spices are thoroughly mixed. Sprinkle spice mixture liberally over chicken thighs.
  • Bake chicken in the preheated oven until skin is crispy, thighs are no longer pink at the bone, and the juices run clear, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Recipe Source: AllRecipes.com

MASHED POTATOES

INGREDIENTS

  • 5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • 3/4 cups Butter
  • 1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
  • 1/2 cup (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
  • 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

DIRECTIONS

  • Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.
  • Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.
  • Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.
  • Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through. 
  • When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

Recipe Source: ThePioneerWoman.com

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