This is the chicken I cook when I do not know what to cook. It asks for one pan, one lemon, and enough patience to leave the skin alone while it crisps, and it pays you back like a dish that took all afternoon.
The sear is the recipe. Cold chicken in a hot pan, skin-side down, and then the discipline to not touch it: no nudging, no peeking, no sliding it around to check. When the skin is ready it lets go of the pan by itself, and not a minute before.
What goes over the top at the end is whatever green thing needs using: parsley, thyme, chives, a handful of torn basil in summer.
