You can braise your chicken thighs and have crispy skin, too

Braising is a culinary technique that keeps on giving.

Slow cooking in liquid over low heat provides a number of benefits; it renders ingredients ultra-tender, and creates a rich, flavorful sauce that results in an easy, delicious — and largely hands-off — one-pan meal.

All of the above reasons make it a great choice for cooking chicken thighs, but there is one problem, and it's a big one. Braising chicken typically also results in soggy, flabby chicken skin. And let's be real: Soggy and flabby generally are not positive adjectives, no matter what you're describing.

Since a crispy, golden brown skin is arguably one of the best things about cooking chicken, losing it seemed like too high a price to pay. But with a few tweaks to the braising process, you can get all the benefits without sacrificing the crispy skin.

In this week's recipe, Lemon Garlic-Braised Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas and Spinach, we maintain that crispy skin by browning it to golden perfection on the stove. That browning process also becomes the foundation of flavor for the dish.

Next, aromatics like onions, garlic and lemon zest are layered in to keep the flavor bright. A dry white wine is used to deglaze, scraping up all those delicious brown bits that stick to the bottom of the pan in the process, creating a complex sauce.

Chickpeas are added, along with broth and a hit of fresh lemon juice, before nestling the browned chicken thighs on top of the aromatics, keeping the meat below the cooking liquid line, but the skin above it. The skillet is kept uncovered while it finishes cooking in the oven, allowing the sauce to reduce as the chicken braises.

Once the chicken has been cooked to fork-tender perfection, it's removed and baby spinach is stirred in and cooked for a few extra minutes in the oven, just until wilted.

The result is a one-pan meal, with a deeply flavorful sauce and crispy-skinned chicken thighs. And while most braises take a long time to cook, this one is done, from start to finish, in less than an hour.

I like to serve this with rice, couscous or simply with toasted baguette slices, but it's certainly hearty enough to serve on its own, too.

Serves 4.

Braising chicken can give you ultra-moist, tender meat, but it can also result in soggy, flabby skin. In this easy and flavorful recipe, the skin is kept above the cooking liquid, keeping it nice and crispy, while the chicken below remains fork-tender. From Meredith Deeds.

• 4 (each 7 to 8 oz.) bone-in chicken thighs

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• Grated zest of 1 lemon

• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

• 1/2 c. dry white wine

• 1 c. chicken broth

• 2 tbsp. lemon juice

• 1 tsp. honey

• 2 (15-oz.) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1 (5 oz.) bag baby spinach

• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in oven-safe 12-inch skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Place the chicken, skin-side down, in the skillet and cook until skin is crisped and well browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate, skin side up.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet. Place over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic, lemon zest and pepper flakes and cook, uncovered, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet, until liquid is almost evaporated, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the broth, lemon juice, honey and chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken back to skillet, nestling into the liquid, keeping the skin above the surface. Transfer the skillet to oven and bake, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through and tender (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of thighs should register 185 degrees), about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer the chicken to a plate. Add the spinach to the skillet and stir to combine. Place back in the oven for 5 minutes, or until spinach is just wilted. Spoon the chickpea and spinach mixture into a bowl and place chicken over the top. Serve hot.

Meredith Deeds is a cookbook author and food writer from Edina. Reach her at meredithdeeds@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram ­at @meredithdeeds.