This spiced, blistered chicken is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted

When my best friend, Robin (plus her husband, Aaron, and their toddler daughter, Nora) moved from D.C. to Chicago in August, our in person meetups wer...

When my best friend, Robin (plus her husband, Aaron, and their toddler daughter, Nora) moved from D.C. to Chicago in August, our in-person meetups were replaced by intense text threads or long phone conversations. We chat about day-to-day life, like everyone else, but we also frequently recount and dissect meals we cooked and/or ate.

Today’s recipe, for chicken thighs seasoned with an unmissable, absolutely dynamite homemade spice blend and blistered in a scorching-hot pan, is adapted from one Aaron cooked for his family last year.

I was in the middle of a busy workday when Robin texted to see whether I had time for a call. "Also,” she wrote, "I really want to tell you about this chicken dish that Aaron accidentally invented the other night…”

When I called her later that day, we caught up on all the usual - children, spouses, health, work - before I changed the subject. "Okay, cool,” I said. "Now, tell me about this chicken.”

Robin recounted, with palpable enthusiasm, the story of New Stove Chicken.