Spoon and Ink: Ghosts and Goblins and Economists, oh my!

What’s cooking? Crispy Chicken Thighs with Charred Zucchini

Happy Halloween! Did you know that most children think Halloween is the second most important holiday after Christmas/Hannukah? I am pretty much in that camp. In fact, I feel so strongly about it, I wrote an essay about it for The New York Times. You can find a link to the piece here.

One of the things I miss most about our life in New Jersey is the ’weeners. I always carved a pumpkin, and was ever at the door in my witch’s hat when the ’weener alert went out. Our next-door neighbors’ children covered their front lawn with dead bodies, vampires, and whatever else they could come up with, so the neighborhood drew a good crowd.

But my favorite Halloween host was an economist who lived near us. He could hardly resist the opportunity for a research project. One year, he offered a choice: one candy and a lottery ticket for the evening’s drawing, or two candies with no ticket. (You can imagine the looks on the kids’ faces as they pondered this dilemma.) He held the drawing – for whatever candy remained – at 8pm, in part to shut down the never-ending trick-or-treat process, and in part to focus on the younger kids, who tended to arrive early. His wife convinced him not to make it a winner-take-all jackpot, so he awarded one grand prize and three smaller ones.

In other years, he would put all the chocolate candy in a black box (marked with “BEWARE OF ECONOMISTS WITH BLACK BOXES”) and all the other (presumably less attractive) candy in an open bowl. You could only take from one or the other. A couple of times he also permitted them to trade in candy they had picked up elsewhere, with a net take of one or two candies. He thought he’d end up with a bowlful of one or two unwanted types of candies, but surprisingly, the offer merely facilitated trading. (What else are economists good for?) Occasionally, he says, kids would pick up candies discarded by another kid in the same group!

* * *

For today, I have no special Halloween dinner or dessert, but at least this dish uses pumpkin seeds (though not the ones from your pumpkin). And because you can make the sauce in your blender while the chicken is cooking, it really takes less than an hour. By the way, you should save any leftover sauce, as it’s good as a mellower version of green goddess on a wedge of iceberg lettuce, or as a dip for potato chips.

Pepitas on left; pumpkin seeds on right.

Kitchen Goddess note: Pumpkin seeds and pepitas are related, but pumpkin seeds are whole seeds with their shells still on, whereas pepitas are a type of pumpkin seed found in shell-less, or hull-free pumpkin varieties.

Crispy Chicken Thighs with Charred Zucchini

Adapted from Ham El-Waylly in The New York Times

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 1½ pounds)
Kosher salt
3 medium zucchini
¼ cup pepitas (raw is recommended, but if you can’t find raw pumpkin seeds, just remember to salt sparingly)
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Special equipment: flexible fish spatula (not required but very helpful in loosening the chicken from the skillet). If you don’t have one of these, you should. Also helpful with... well, fish.

For the sauce:

½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup pepitas (again, raw is recommended, but if you can’t find raw pepitas, just remember to salt sparingly)
1 cup loosely chopped cilantro stems and leaves
1 garlic clove
1 jalapeño, stemmed and seeded (unless you really like it hot)
3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon kosher salt

To serve:
Plain white rice

Directions
Heat oven to 400º. Use a paper towel to pat both sides of the thighs until dry. Season the chicken thighs all over with kosher salt and let them rest for 10-15 minutes. (A 15-minute sit at room temperature will let the chicken cook more evenly.)

Slice the zucchini lengthwise into halves or thirds (The original recipe called for halves. The Kitchen Goddess sliced hers into thirds, because... well, because she wanted thinner slices. Your choice.) On a plate, season the cut sides of the zucchini with salt and let it sit.

Kitchen Goddess note: Recipes never tell you when to start the rice. They just tell you – at the end – to serve the chicken over rice, and if you are like me, you will scream a not nice word and let your spouse know it’ll be a little bit longer before dinner. But I will tell you: start the rice now. Most package instructions will have the rice ready in 30 minutes, in which case, the rice will be ready when the chicken is ready. A miracle.

To a large, oven-safe skillet, add the thighs skin-side down, and set it over medium heat. Cook the chicken, undisturbed, for about 15 minutes. (This undisturbed part is critical. Don’t even think about moving it.) When you start with a cold skillet, the thighs will initially stick to the bottom of the pan; but once the fat on the chicken skin has rendered, the thighs will release easily from the pan, and the skin will be a golden brown with patches of dark brown.

That flexible fish spatula I recommended above is great for flipping the chicken, so do that now. Flip the thighs over and cook another 5 minutes – undisturbed – until the under side is golden brown.

Transfer the chicken, skin side up, to a plate or pan. Return the skillet to medium heat.

Pat the zucchini dry and lay it cut-side down in the skillet. Use your fish spatula to press down and flatten the zucchini. Cook the squash until it’s deeply charred in spots, about 3 minutes, then flip it. (Don’t be afraid to get a little burn on the zucchini: as with many veggies, the charring process helps to bring out the natural sugars in the zucchini, while also adding a smoky note.)

Add ¼ cup water to the skillet and use a wooden spoon or your fish spatula to scrape up any browned bits. Place the thighs (and any accumulated juices), skin-side up, on top of the zucchini, Scatter the pumpkin seeds around the pan and transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast until thighs are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

The sauce:
While the chicken roasts, make the sauce. In your blender, combine the buttermilk, pumpkin seeds, cilantro, garlic, jalapeño, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until smooth.