I just recently made this recipe for one of my regular clients. He loves chicken dishes and as far as I am concern, there are never enough chicken recipes, are there? This one I originally found in Wine Spectator magazine and since it involved wine, I was in!
• 6 chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups beef broth or chicken stock
• 1 cup red wine, preferbaly Zinfandel (I used leftover Malbec, it worked too)
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon dry thyme or oregano
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/3 to 1/2 of a day-old baguette (long thin loaf of French bread)
1. Preheat the oven to 500°F. Place the chicken thighs skin-side down in a nonstick roasting pan and season them lightly with salt and pepper, then roast in the oven until brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn them skin-side up, season again, and return them to the oven to brown, about another 10 minutes. (I have to admit that my client’s oven wasn’t cleaned for awhile, so I created quite a smoke house with such a high temperature. Make sure you check on your oven if it’s clean).
2. Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the heat to 325°F. Pour off any accumulated fat and add the remaining ingredients, except for the bread, tucking the solid ingredients under and around the chicken. Cover the pan lightly with foil and return it to the oven. Roast for about 40 minutes, or until the meat is very tender and cooked through. (I forgot to cover the dish, but it was OK either way).
3. Increase the heat in the oven to 425°F. Remove the chicken from the pan (use the foil to line a plate and hold the contents of the pan) and strain the contents of the pan into a bowl or fat separator. Skim as much fat as possible from the pan liquid and place it in a blender or food processor. Add the bread and puree until smooth. Strain this mixture into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. (The bread thickens the gravy without adding extra fat.)
Serve the chicken and sauce with potatoes, noodles, rice or polenta. Serves 6.
I made this recipe with just 3 chicken quarters – but left the rest of the ingredients as it was, so I have a lot of sauce. It created really delicious, rich sauce that allows to pair this chicken dish with rich, fruity wines, such as American Zinfandel, Cotes du Rhone or perhaps Garnacha from Spain. Perhaps my favorite Juan Gil will do! I hope you enjoy it as much as I and my client did. Bon Appetite!
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