Braised Chicken Thighs with Herbs and Tomatoes
Texture, to me, is half of what makes food good. Flavor, of course, is king…but for me, the texture can make or break a dish. For instance, the cheese dip you get in hole-in-the-wall Mexican places is one of my favorite guilty indulgences. It tastes good, sure, but what gets me is the combination of the warm, crisp chips covered in silky, melty, gooey cheese. It’s addictive. Perfectly cooked fresh pasta, slightly chewy and tender…it’s perfection. I can’t eat jello or applesauce because of the texture (they make me gag). It’s not that the flavor of those foods is gross to me…it’s purely a texture thing.
This brings me to dark meat chicken. Braised dark meat, to be exact. Braising coaxes out the innate butteriness of nearly anything (is butteriness a word? probably not, but oh well). Sometimes I like a slow braise, for things like short ribs and ropa vieja. But sometimes, a quick braise is all you need for a satisfyingly tender results. Chicken thighs do beautifully in a quick braise.
I was inspired by this Cooking Light recipe. (I got a subscription to CL for Christmas, and I’m loving it. Great magazine.) I essentially rewrote the recipe, though, for what I had on hand and what I thought would be good. It’s great for a weeknight, since it cooks quickly, and using dark meat is especially wallet-friendly.
Braised Chicken Thighs with Herbs and Tomatoes
serves 3 or 4, depending on how big your chicken thighs are
4 medium or large boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup good chicken broth
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sour cream (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 to 4 cups cooked egg noodles
Put chicken thighs on a plate. Use tongs to flatten the thighs (sometimes they’re curled up in the package), then evenly sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat in a large sautee pan with deep sides and a lid. Add onion and thyme. Cook until onion is translucent and tender, about 4 minutes. Move onion to edges of pan, and increase heat to medium-high. Add remaining butter to pan, and put chicken in pan. Sear until both sides of chicken are golden, about 3 minutes per side. Stir onions while the chicken sears so they don’t burn.
When chicken is seared, toss everything around. Add tomatoes, wine, chicken broth, and Dijon. Shimmy the pan, and stir, to combine everything. Cover pan, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how big the thighs are, until the center registers 160 on a meat thermometer.
Take chicken out of sauce, place on a clean plate, and cover loosely with foil. Turn heat up to medium-high, and simmer sauce until it’s reduced by a bit. Off the heat, stir in sour cream, if using. Stir in half of fresh parsley.
Put about 1 cup cooked egg noodles on each serving plate. Top with a chicken thigh, and spoon the sauce over top. Top with additional fresh parsley, and serve.
February 18th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
love this combination of flavors! and while i usually opt for chicken breast, boneless skinless chicken thighs have been making more regular appearances in our kitchen. i too prefer their texture. and for a bit more fat you get a lot more flavor.
February 25th, 2010 at 7:15 am
Delicious! Made this the other night for my parents– my dad has become a VERY picky eater in his “old” age and he loved it, even though he was might skeptical of “all that green stuff you’re putting in there” (the parsley!). I think this is going to be added to regular rotation at our table.
April 15th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
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