For Christmas I bought my husband / our house a cast iron dutch oven.  They are amazing (well, all things cast iron are amazing).  Lodge makes a pretty good product, and we own various sizes of cast iron skillets.  Cast iron skillets/dutch ovens are great because they cook more even (the heat is distributed more evenly), they can help protect you against home invaders, they can be used in the oven/stove/camp fire, they get really hot and retain a lot of heat, you can bake a pie in them, make a steak in them, saute veggies in them – yep, they can pretty much do anything.  Once when my family went camping when I was a kid my mom cooked an entire dinner in a cast iron dutch oven in the fire – even the apple pie!  For a really great cast iron skillet dessert check out my post on a red plum cobbler I made in the oven.  If you do get or have a cast iron skillet / dutch oven it’s really important to properly season and clean your skillet / dutch oven.

I was really excited to use our cast iron dutch oven for this chicken thigh recipe, but it turns out I could have just used one of our regular cast iron skillets.  I think a stew would be a better recipe to make in the dutch oven.

Ingredients:

chicken thighs (4-5 will fit in a 5 quart dutch oven)

salt

pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

paprika

olive oil

1. Heat your cast iron dutch oven or skillet on medium-high heat until it sizzles when you sprinkle water into the pan.  Drizzle olive oil into the dutch oven or skillet (but not until you are ready to put the meat in).

2. Meanwhile, sprinkle the seasonings on both sides of the chicken; place in hot dutch oven or skillet.

3. Brown both sides of the chicken for 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat.  Reduce the head to medium-low and cover.  Cook, turning every few minutes, for an additional 30 or so minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Serve with a vegetable or salad and muffin pan potato gratins