This is the chicken I make when the fridge is nearly empty and I still want dinner to feel like an event: skin-on thighs, a lemon, and whatever soft herbs are left in the crisper. Everything happens in one pan, and most of the work is just leaving the chicken alone so the skin can crisp.
The sear is the recipe. Cold chicken in a hot pan, skin-side down, and then hands off — every time you peek or nudge, you tear the skin and lose the crisp you were building. Let the pan do it; the thigh will tell you when it is ready by letting go.
While the chicken rests, the pan gives you a sauce for free: stock to lift the browned bits, butter to gloss it, lemon to wake it up.
