Pan Roasted Chicken Thigh with Bacon Gravy and Succotash

Succotash. Nobody in the Pacific Northwest knows what it is. But since I've become a country-music loving, gun-toting, soft-core redneck, I felt the need to revive my (barely) Southern roots one weekend and introduce succotash to my kinfolk.

A note about getting a good crackle on fowl skin or a good sear on a steak: dry your meat. Take a paper towel and dry it off before seasoning it. Here's why: hot pan + plus wet meat = steamed meat.
Hot pan + dry meat = meat sticking until it's released on its own at exactly the right time and a perfect crust or crackly skin. Science.

Need:
Bone-in, skin on chicken thighs, dried off
S+p
Garlic powder
Vegetable oil

Succotash:
Chopped bacon
1 C chopped yellow onion
1 C frozen corn, defrosted
1 C frozen lima beans, defrosted
S+p
Garlic powder
Cayenne

Bacon gravy:
Chopped bacon
1/2 C chopped yellow onion
Some white wine
Salt
1 tbsp butter

1. Season chicken thighs all over and sear in a cast iron skillet. Place chicken in a preheated 375° oven for about 35 min. Done.

2. Place chopped bacon in a pan and heat and cook it until crispy. Remove from pan, leave drippings. Add the onions and saute for 1 min. Then add the corn and lima beans. Saute and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to taste. Thoroughly heat veggies thru, then add cooked bacon back into the mix.

3. In another pan, cook chopped bacon, again, til crispy and remove. Add the onions and saute 1 min. Then add a bit of white wine. Keep the heat med-high to high until some of the wine cooks off a bit. Taste and salt, as needed. Turn off the heat, add the bacon back to the sauce and the butter. Melt it into the sauce until it comes together.

This was a delightfully lightened (pfft) version of Southern food. I garnished with mint because Kentucky derby. And because it's what I had on hand for garnish.