Pan Roasted Chicken Thighs

As someone with a rather large perfectionistic streak, I hesitated in posting a meal in which I only made one component. I tend to show off elaborate, gourmet meals, not a quick Wednesday lunch. It’s like choosing which pictures to post on facebook, people tend to post pictures that make them look pretty, happy, artistic, etc. In short, these chosen photos are not a realistic portrayal of what’s actually happening in their lives. This blog, however, is meant to be a window into my everyday existence. I would be doing a disservice to myself and this project if I only showed the extraordinary.

I bought chicken thighs at the store this week with the intention of making this recipe. It’s one of the most basic, but definitely more flavorful, ways to make chicken. To be honest, I’m not a big chicken person. It reminds me of my eating disorder in a way. I was afraid to eat red meat or pork or pretty much anything besides chicken. I often find chicken boring and tasteless. It doesn’t stand up to the more exciting meats out there. I mean, if you can get bison or duck or a nice piece of beef, why choose chicken? This recipe, however, is a simple, satisfying way to make chicken enjoyable for me.

Chicken thighs are often the cheapest part of the chicken, and, since this recipe only calls for chicken thighs, salt, pepper and vegetable oil, it’s a good meal to make on a budget. Fair warning: I set off the smoke alarm making this chicken because I kept the heat too high. Make sure if you have an electric stove that you turn the heat down (I would say to medium) after searing off the chicken.

Recipe:

(Credit bonappetit.com)

4-6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (I would say 2 per person)

Salt and pepper

1 Tbs vegetable oil.

Preheat the oven to 475. Coat a cast iron skillet (or any pan that can go both on the stove and in the oven) with the vegetable oil. Heat the pan to on high heat until hot but not smoking (it’s ready when a droplet of water “dances” on the pan). Put the chicken in the pan skin side down and leave on high for two minutes. Then turn the heat DOWN to medium (the recipe calls for medium high, but that was too hot for my stove), and let the chicken cook for 12 minutes. Keeping the skin side down, put the pan in the oven for 13 minutes, and then flip the chicken and cook it in the oven for 5 more minutes. Put the chicken on a paper towel to drain off the extra oil, and that’s it! You’re done! I ate mine with a bell pepper and some mini cupcakes, but you can have fun with the sides, too. Please feel free to comment and let me know if you try the recipe. It’s one of my go-to quick meals.

Let’s begin with a cup of coffee

In my world, all good days begin with a cup of coffee. Well, maybe not just the good days. This cup of coffee in particular has no special significance. It’s not a beautifully prepared latte with a heart in the foam from one of my regular coffee shops, just a plain cup of coffee with cream and sugar in a mug that looks like an inside out creamsicle. It’s a regular coffee that I could have made at home in my keurig for free (without the creamsicle cup). Nothing special at all.

You see, this cup of coffee with cream and sugar has become the norm, but it hasn’t always been that way. Four years ago I was about to head to St. Louis, MO to start my freshman year at Washington University in St Louis. On the outside, I was excited, thrilled even, to get out of Bethesda, MD and start on my path to become a doctor. Beneath the surface, things weren’t quite as they appeared. Along with my two huge suitcases and a list from Bed, Bath and Beyond, I was carrying a secret.

I now know that my eating disorder started several years before I became aware of it. At 11, I was sneaking downstairs to binge in the middle of the night, by 16 I fell deep into restriction and pushed my body to its limits before giving in to food, again. I was determined that a change in setting would help me become “normal,” but things only got worse. During my one semester at Wash U I fell deeper and deeper into the eating disorder, and I began purging and self harming to deal with the fact that I felt like my world was falling apart.

Now to come full circle to the coffee. I began to take my coffee almost black, with a splash of skim milk and one splenda because I was afraid to consume any more calories than was necessary. I scorned those who used cream, citing a lack of willpower, and I swore I would never stoop that low. I’ve now been taking cream in my coffee for two years. To me, it’s a sign of progress.

This is not a blog about coffee or the dirty details of my eating disorder. This is a blog about exploration and healing. I have been in the process of recovery for several years now, but in the last six months things have begun to slip. I made the difficult decision to go back to an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) about two weeks ago. Through my recovery, I have rediscovered my love of food and cooking. Cooking for myself and spending time with food has been a huge part of my recovery process, and I hope to share that through this blog. Food can be fun and approachable. It can also be terrifying. I have a passion for cooking, and through that, I believe I can heal.