Wine Braised Chicken Thighs
You've heard the saying, "Some of the best gifts come in small packages." Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are the ultimate small gifts. Surprise! No Surprise....
MAKE IT 🤓👩🍳
Wine Braised Chicken Thighs
You've heard the saying, "Some of the best gifts come in small packages." Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are the ultimate small gifts wrapped in a crunchy golden brown wrapper. Surprise! No Surprise.
I think Alex Delany from Basically says this best... They are one extravagant display of concentrated, roast-y meat and umami. When you cook chicken thighs with the bone in, the flavor that's housed inside the bone spreads out into the meat, leaving you with chicken with a deeper, meatier, more chicken-y flavor.
Yea....could not have explained that better. Thank you
OK. So let's talk skin! Crispy, crunchy, perfectly-browed skin. Right? Right. It's the sprinkles on your cupcake, it's the scoop of ice cream on a slice of homemade apple pie, the ranch dressing your dipping that extra-large slice of pepperoni pizza in, the mound of butter atop your perfect steak...should i go on?
And dinner is done when your chicken arrives at the table tender and succulent from braising in wine, nestled up with mushrooms and Kale. The dinner gods' blessed your meal... you're a saint. You've bestowed on yourself, and all that sit at your table with the most comforting hug your grandmother ever gave you.
You're welcome.
Salt
White pepper
6-8 bone-in chicken thighs
Olive oil
1 small onion
10 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup low-sodium, reduced-fat chicken broth
1 3/4 cup good white wine
2 bay leaves
4-5 dry figs, halved
12 oz/ Cremini mushrooms
1 large bunch of Tuscan Kale
1/2 lemon, juice of
Fresh parsley, a handful for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position your rack to the lowest it can go ( you'll need the room).
Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper on both sides. (make sure to lift the skin up and get underneath.) Leave the chicken to hang out in the refrigerator uncovered for 2 hours if you have the time...and you currently do.
In a large Dutch oven (My favorite Dutch oven: https://greatjonesgoods.com/products/the-dutchess), heat 1 to 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat until hot and glistening. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook for 8 minutes(don't lift the chicken and peek. Leave it alone!) until golden brown. Turn chicken over and brown on the other side briefly (about 3 minutes). Transfer chicken to a plate for now.
To the pot, add onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until just translucent. Stir in tomato paste, wine, and broth. Add in the bay leaves and season with just a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer for 4 minutes or so.
Nestle chicken into the liquid, making sure the liquid covers only 3/4 of the chicken thighs leaving the skins exposed. Add dry figs to the pot. Bring it to a simmer.
Transfer chicken to oven and cook, uncovered until totally tender and liquid has reduced by about half, about 40-45 minutes (Check halfway through to be sure liquid is OK, you should still have some liquid in the end.)
While chicken is cooking, heat a small nonstick pan, adding a tiny drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Add mushrooms and Kale and sauté.
About 10 minutes or before the chicken has finished cooking, add mushroom and Kale. Return to oven for those last 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Finish with lemon juice and a garnish of fresh parsley.
