Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place oven rack in the center position

Slice lemon into thin slices, break thyme springs into eight 2-3 inch segments, peel and slice shallots, set aside

Use your fingers to gently separate the chicken skin from meat, slide a slice of lemon and two sprigs of thyme under the skin of each chicken thigh. Gently slide skin back in place. Season both sides of chicken thighs with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Heat a frying pan (preferably cast iron) on medium high heat for two minutes. Add olive oil to pan. You want the entire bottom of pan to e covered with oil. Heat oil for 60 seconds. Add chicken thighs to pan skin side down. Cook for 6 minutes, until skin is golden (chicken will continue to brown in the oven). Turn heat down a little if needed.

Leave chicken skin side down and place pan in the oven, cook for 12 minutes. Turn chicken skin side up, add shallots to the pan in between the chicken pieces, cook for 12-13 more minutes. Remove pan from the oven, place chicken on a plate. Add butter to pan, use a spatula to move butter around and scrape the chicken bits from the bottom of the pan. This forms a tasty sauce.

To plate: pour sauce onto a plate, slide the lemon slices and thyme sprigs out from under the skin of the chicken thighs, add chicken on top of sauce this gives that great flavor while keeping the skin crispy). Enjoy!