Crisp Chicken Legs with Charred Tomatillo Salsa Verde & Sweet Corn

Taste

Tomatillos arrive for a few weeks at the end of summer and they are worth going out of your way for — tart, faintly green-apple, nothing like the tomatoes they resemble. Blackening them under the broiler with jalapeño, red onion, and unpeeled garlic knocks the raw edge off and gives the salsa a smoky backbone. Whole legs are the cut to use here: the skin renders down to something that shatters, the bone keeps the dark meat juicy through a long cook, and the fat left in the pan is what the corn gets cooked in, so nothing is washed up between steps.

Instructions

1. Char the salsa vegetables. Heat the broiler to high and set a rack in the top third of the oven. Spread the husked tomatillos, jalapeño, quartered red onion, and unpeeled garlic cloves on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil for 8 minutes, until the tomatillos have slumped and blackened in patches, then turn everything and broil for 4 minutes more. The garlic skins should be papery and scorched. Take the sheet out and reset the oven to 200 °C (400 °F) so it comes down to temperature while you start the chicken. ⏱︎ 8 min

2. Blitz the salsa. Squeeze the garlic out of its skins into a blender and add the tomatillos with any juice from the sheet, the onion, the cilantro, and the lime juice. Pull the stem off the jalapeño and add it whole — seeds and all for full heat, halved and seeded for less. Blend to a loose, slightly chunky purée. Season with salt: it should taste sharp and a little smoky. Set aside.

3. Season and dry the chicken. Pat the legs completely dry with paper towel, working into the folds where the thigh meets the drumstick — surface moisture is what stops skin crisping. Season all over with salt, black pepper, and the ground cumin, and let them sit at room temperature while the pan heats.

4. Render the skin. Set a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat with the olive oil. Lay the legs in skin-side down without crowding and press each one flat for a few seconds. Cook for 15 minutes without moving or turning them — resist lifting them to check. The fat will render out steadily and the skin will go deep golden and rigid. If it is colouring faster than that, drop the heat: you want the fat out, not a quick tan. ⏱︎ 15 min

5. Finish in the oven. Turn the legs skin-side up and transfer the whole skillet to the 200 °C (400 °F) oven. Roast for 20 minutes, until the thickest part of the thigh reads 80 °C (175 °F) next to the bone. Dark meat is better taken past the 74 °C (165 °F) safety mark — it goes tender rather than dry. Move the legs to a warm plate, skin-side up, and rest for 5 minutes. Don’t cover them or the skin will soften. ⏱︎ 20 min

6. Blister the corn. Pour off all but about a tablespoon of fat from the skillet and set it over high heat — the handle will still be oven-hot, so use a cloth. Add the corn kernels in one layer and leave them for 2 minutes until they pick up brown spots and start to pop, then toss and cook for 2 minutes more. Season with salt. ⏱︎ 2 min

7. Plate it. Spoon a wide pool of salsa verde onto each plate, set a chicken leg on top, and scatter the blistered corn around. Add a spoon of sour cream if using, and serve with lime wedges to squeeze over.

Tips

• Cut swap: Bone-in thighs or drumsticks work on the same timings. Boneless, skinless thighs will not — there is no skin to render and no fat for the corn. If that is what you have, sear them 4 minutes a side in a tablespoon of oil, skip the oven, and cook the corn in fresh oil.
• Tomatillo substitute: Out of season, use 400 g of green tomatoes plus an extra tablespoon of lime juice. The result is milder and less tart, so taste and adjust.
• Make the salsa ahead: It keeps for 5 days in the fridge and improves after a day. It also freezes well in a jar, and doubles as a base for braising eggs or pork.
• Heat control: Jalapeño heat is unpredictable. Blend the salsa without the pepper first, taste, then add it in halves until it’s where you want it.
• No oven-safe skillet: Render the skin in any pan, then move the legs to a foil-lined roasting tin for the oven stage. Pour the rendered fat into the pan you cook the corn in so you don’t lose it.