Spotted: Every grocer's meat case
Cost: Less than $2.00/lb, give or take
Attraction: Timz iz hard, thighs iz cheap
Where to find: Any local grocer or butcher
In this trying economic climate, it's no good to be a breast man. The boneless, skinless giant chicken nugget may be the go-to item found in most shopping carts, but apart from the handful of meat they offer, the breast tastes meh at best. I've always had a thing for thighs, ever since our neighbor growing up used them exclusively to make her fried chicken.
"Poor man's duck," she used to call it. The skin grows a bit thicker around the thighs and comes out extra crispy when you bake or fry it. The thigh has more fat, and we all know fat is flavor. Most importantly, chicken thighs, on average, cost 60 percent less than a boneless, skinless chicken breast: The more butchering involved, the more expensive the cut. It's cheapest to buy and roast an entire chicken. But chicken thighs are almost as cheap, and an exceptional value for those concerned with purchasing all organic or hormone-free meat at less than $2 per pound. Thighs usually come cheapest from the butcher, allowing you to have them deboned.
Thing is, I didn't realize until recently how many hesitate to go for the thigh. Somewhere along the line, Americans got it in their heads that dark meat meant significantly more fat and therefore was less healthy. I'm guessing it was Richard Simmons in the '80s, with poached chicken salad. Thighs only carry a wee bit more fat than the breast, a negligible amount when you consider how much more flavor they pack. I've never seen the grocery store out of chicken thighs, but lately they look to be a hot moving item. My butcher said that downturns are good for thigh business because people want more than just "chops and breasts."
Poor people invented some of the world's greatest foods: pizza, sushi, cassoulet. Each of these foods represents a crafty solution to a budget-strapped eater that also includes using the so-called lesser cuts of meat. The $20 pork chop on a restaurant menu always offends me because it takes the least time and effort to cook, but how many restaurateurs have the brass ones to write the words "slow cooked pork butt," or place two handsome pan-roasted chicken thighs over Jerusalem artichoke puree? No matter: You can put a good sear on your thighs at home, simmer low and slow in the sauce of your choice, and eat in, and well.
Maggie Savarino Dutton is an industry veteran who has played bartender, sommelier and line cook and who now consults. She writes "Search & Distill," which appears every Wednesday in the Seattle Weekly, and maintains The Wine Offensive, her blog about wine, food, and anything else that might be discussed over the bar.
Chicken thighs sign photograph by taberandrew via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Point of Purchase" photograph by Roadsidepictures via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Pantry" photograph by Áslaug Snorradóttir.
