Browning casserole meat..

[Coldemort]

Just stood here with some chicken legs about to make a coq a vin and thought why am I faffing Browning them. Surely it all gets cooked thoroughly? Can I just lob them in or will the -french- food God's come for me?? And even more heineously can I leave the skin on??
Looking for ever more lazy ways to cook...

The skin should be on, for flavour and moisture. The skin does need browning a bit though

Definitely leave the skin on.
I found that browning the most actually does make it taste better, and using the wine to deglaze the pan.
You can do it without though, it wont be inedible! If you don't brown it, I would remove the skin after cooking as it will be a bit flabby.

Coq au vin I leave the skin on, toss the quarters in seasoned flour and brown. The flour helps thicken the sauce and browned skin is way nicer than flobby white skin, even once it is cooked through and red from the wine.

How about other meats? I make a lot of lamb casseroles and have always browned without thinking about it. Is there any reason other than aesthetics?
And I'm taking a leap of faith and leaving skin on....

You brown for that lovely caramelised meaty flavour but also to render the fat down. Don’t be lazy. And don’t overcrowd the browning pan!

It's perfectly fine without.
With chicken, just make sure the tops are sitting above hte liquid level and they will brown anyway.

It's fine to not brown but it just broils instead which doesn't have such a good flavour in my opinion.

Jamie Oliver reckons it makes no difference for lamb or beef stew. I usually do unless I can’t be arsed. Not sure it makes a whole lot of difference.

Chicken though, unless it’s poking above the liquid, I like a bit of browning.