Slow-cooked chicken legs

Once a reporter asked me what my weekend taste is. It took a moment to reply, but, as it was fall, I had to admit that it was the taste of slow-cooked meat. Almost any meat, but especially chicken that has cooked in the oven for 4-5 hours, filling the whole house with sublime aromas.

20 ml extra virgin olive or grapeseed oil
8 chicken legs (you can use whole chicken cut into pieces)
30 g butter
3 carrots, small cubes
3 celery stalks, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
8 thyme sprigs
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
water
sea salt to taste

Heat the oven to 160°. If you have one, use a cast-iron pot. If not, any pot with a lid will do.

Heat the oil in a pot and fry the chicken legs on all sides until golden brown. When ready, take them out and transfer to a plate. If the pot is small, do it in several batches. Turn down the heat, add butter, carrots, celery, and garlic. Add salt and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Then add the chicken, thyme, and pepper and add water so that it is 1 cm below the chicken. Put the lid on and place in the oven for 4 hours. Take it out, remove the lid, and put the chicken on a serving dish. Turn the heat up high and boil the liquid to reduce a little. Pour over the chicken, add a little more pepper, and serve.

You can also remove the meat from the bones and serve it with mashed potatoes, couscous, polenta, or put it in tortillas.