She is the ‘Domestic Goddess’, and so there should be no question when wisdom drips from the lips of Nigella Lawson like pearls (in my case, undoubtedly before swine).

Over a languid lunch she opines that, “Chicken thighs are the home cook’s very best friend in the kitchen; the foundation of many great home meals.”

I want to argue. To assert an opposing opinion rather than stay submissively in accord. Our relationship is one of all-knowing sister and annoying brother who wants to find a chink in the armour of his sibling’s prodigious intellect. Surely, there’s a part of the chicken that I love more? A satin-smooth, white-cut poached breast? Or perhaps crispy-skinned fried or roasted wings, singing with a vinegary, buttery buffalo sauce? Or maybe even those little juicy oysters of sweet meat under the carcass of the roast chook? But none of these offer quite the magic combination of value, flavour and fat content that makes thighs so hard to overcook, and so easy to cook well.

As pretty much every shopping trolley I’ve ever wheeled towards the check-out has had chicken thighs in the basket way before I’ve worked out what to do with them, I fully understand their flexibility. They span so many culinary cultures, whether you’re grilling skewers to slather them with satay sauce, roasting them under a tikka paste to make butter chicken or braising on the bone to serve in a sauce of wine, bay leaves and Dijon mustard – brought to a decadently silky conclusion with cold butter or cream.

Chook thighs are also the perfect choice for so many different cooking methods, from a hearty country pie or casserole to a crispy golden schnitzel or Chinese-style bites, flour-tossed and fried then drenched in a sweet spicy soy and honey dressing. Yes, the chicken thigh is verily the Swiss Army Knife of the kitchen. You have a job that needs doing? Chicken thighs are there to help.

As further proof of chicken thighs’ ability to solve every dinner dilemma, I offer the 350-plus chicken thigh recipes at delicious.com.au – which include my sunny turmeric chicken thighs (which requires just four simple steps to make dinner for the family – you can thank me later) and two of our most-clicked barbecue recipes.

These are both for thigh skewers; one rubbed with warming cayenne pepper and smoked paprika and served with a black bean salsa; the other Indian-spiced with chunks of creamy roast eggplant mixed in with the chook. I’d serve this in warm naan with an onion and tomato salad and a dollop of yoghurt raita flavoured with cumin.

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