A soft sauce, with the slight tang of lemon, the gentle flavors of pear, the surprise of a caper or two, and the subtle tones of garlic and thyme surround chicken in this lovely dish! This is an easy braised dish to make and total time in the kitchen is about a half hour with cooking time in the oven of about 45 minutes.
Let’s start by getting the ingredients together first, shall we? Here is the list of ingredients:
8 chicken thighs, bone in
3/4 cup of flour
4 grinds each of salt and pepper
3 dashes of garlic powder
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS butter
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 1/2 cups of a good Pinot Grigio
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
The zest of one whole lemon
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 TBS drained capers
1 bay leaf
The first thing we do is place the flour, salt and pepper along with the garlic powder in a zipper bag. Shake this up to combine and then add the chicken and shake to coat. Next we add the olive oil and butter to a dutch oven. Turn on the heat to medium high to melt and combine the two. Then add 4 of the chicken thighs, skin side down, and brown for 6 minutes per side.
When these are done set them aside and repeat this process with the last 4 thighs. Remove these too. Drain off all but 1 TBS of oil from the pot. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Next, turn the heat down to low and add in the garlic. Enjoy the aromas of these lovely gems as they cook.
When the garlic has softened add in the wine and cook down until reduced by half. Next, rub the thyme between your hand to release the lovely scents and essential oils and drop this into the pot. Take the lemon zest and over the pot, holding both ends, gently twist to release the oil from the skin and drop these into the pot. Next add in the capers and the bay leaf.
Then add in the chicken broth. Here is a pouring shot just for Conor over at One Man’s Meat!
Stir all of this together to combine well and then add back the chicken skin side up.Cover and place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes. When this is finished, put the pot back on the stove, remove the cover, and reduce the sauce by 1/3.
Before serving, remove the lemon zest, the thyme leaves and the bay leaf. And dinner is served!
Let me know if you try this dish!
Thanks for dropping in and joining me in the kitchen today! Stay tuned as I am heading into the kitchen tomorrow to make Al Roker’s, from NBC’s Today show, Spicy Beef Chili!