Lemon Braised Chicken Thighs

Happy Monday everyone!  How was your weekend?

We didn't do much, I had to work on Saturday so Sunday ended up pretty lazy.  With the exception of getting out to play a game of tennis with some friends.  We got our butts handed to us - I blame it on Andy being my partner.  Hehe.

I've also been working on a re-design of the blog.  Of course, it's not quite finished yet, so I'll just have to keep you in suspense.  I also wanted to get a quick opinion about a possible name change.  I realize Andy can't be my "Fiance" for eternity, but I don't know whether to change the name of the blog or not.  I've already changed it once, and if I do change it again, it'll be for good.

So a couple names I've been playing around with are "Andy Likes It So It Must Be Good" (that way, regardless of what he becomes - i.e. my husband, there's no need for a change) and "Feeding Andy".  Either way, I know I'm going to be changing my URL (because frankly, my current one is a little long and ridiculous - which was bad planning on my part when I first made this blog).  So anyway, any suggestions are welcome so feel free to give me your input!

Ingredients:

Adapted from Tastespotting the Blog's recipe

6 boneless and skinless chicken thighs
salt and pepper, to taste
canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
3 thai chiles, minced
2 Bay leaves
4 strips of lemon zest
juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon thyme
1 cup chicken stock
small handful of parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 F and set a cooling rack atop a baking sheet.

Season the chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large cast iron skillet (or other oven-proof skillet/pan) under medium high heat.  Add chicken thighs in one layer and cook until browned, about 4-6 minutes.  Turn thighs over and cook an addition 2-3 minutes to sear the meat.  Transfer the chicken to the cooling rack.

Reduce the heat on the cast iron to medium low and add onions.  Cook until they start to soften, about 2-3 minutes.  Add garlic and chiles and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Pour in the wine and simmer for about 2-3 minutes, or until alcohol has burnt off.  Stir in bay leaves, lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme, and chicken stock.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce down to a simmer. 

Transfer skillet to the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh parsley.

This was definitely one of those feel-good meals.  We served it with a mixture of roasted potatoes and beets.  Of course, it would be outstanding with skin-on chicken thighs, as the skin would crisp up - but we're trying to be a tad healthier over here, so we opted out of that. 

Hope you all have a great Monday and see you back here tomorrow afternoon!

Herb-Braised Chicken Halves

What a weekend!  It seems that we'll be able to check out our potential wedding venue next Tuesday!  We're pretty sure this is THE one!  We had breakfast at Toast on Market, which happens to be right next door to the venue... so we just walked around it a bit, and you know, I just got that feeling.  That it was the right choice.  Am I crazy?  Or do I just have that wedding-planning bug?  Either way, the fact is... we're so close to settling on a date, a venue... which means that this wedding is sooooo gonna happen!  Not that I didn't think it was, but you know, the more that is set in stone, the more real it all feels!

And we committed to a photographer this weekend too!  It's my friend Adam who does some awesome work, and he's cutting us a great deal, so it was extremely hard to resist! 

So our tentative date is April 28th of next year, so hopefully we'll be able to book that date next Tuesday when we check out the whole place!  Cross your fingers!

I sound like an elated school child don't I?  I just can't help it!

Anyway, let's talk chicken.  A while back, Sommer, over at A Mama With Flavor, posted a recipe about how she cooked a chicken in a dutch oven.  I'm sure this is somewhat common, but to me, it was a totally new way of cooking chicken.  I was quite intrigued.  Especially since my favorite part of a chicken is the crispy skin!  This would have no crispy skin, but it would definitely render a tender and moist chicken, that rivals even the best of the crispy-skinned chickens that I've cooked!  So thanks for planting that seed in my head Sommer, because I finally took the plunge and cooked a chicken in the dutch oven, and I quite possibly may never go back to the regular roasting method again!

Ingredients:

Didn't want to get all that chicken juice on my new cutting boards!

4 lb. whole chicken
salt and pepper, to taste
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup madeira wine 
3-4 cups chicken stock
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
5-8 sage leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Pat chicken dry and sprinkle both sides with salt.  You can be somewhat generous, but don't overkill here.  Place chicken in glass bowl or dish and cover.  Refrigerate for at least 6-8 hours.

Take chicken out of refrigerator and wash off salt.  Pat dry.

In a large dutch oven (big enough to fit the whole bird and cover it) under medium high heat, add olive oil.  Add chicken and sear until both sides are a golden brown, about 10-15 minutes total.  Remove chicken and set aside.

Add garlic, celery, carrots, and onion to dutch oven.  Cook until vegetables start to soften, about 5 minutes or so.  Stir in tomato paste and cook for another minute.  Add madeira wine and cook until it is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.


In a small bowl, combine butter, sage, and thyme in a small bowl.  Spread the butter mixture underneath the skin of the chicken and on top of it.  This will ensure good flavor throughout the meat and keep a little moisture too.

Carefully place chicken back into dutch oven and pour about 3 cups of chicken stock into the pot.  Cover and place in oven.  Roast for about 1 & 1/2 hours or until chicken is white throughout. 

Carefully remove chicken from pot and let rest on cutting board for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring liquid from pot to a boil on stovetop.  Remove about 1 cup of the stock and mix it with the flour in a small bowl.  When flour is dissolved into stock, slowly pour back into dutch oven.  Whisk until mixture has thickened slightly.  Strain the vegetables from the pot, and at this point, you can either save them, throw them out, or use them as a side.  I don't like wasting things so I just served the vegetables alongside our chicken. 

Cut chicken in half and serve alongside vegetables or chosen side.  Spoon gravy over top, if desired.

Seriously, this was a great idea.  The meat was probably the most tender I've ever had, and the flavor was just amazing!  Definitely try roasting a chicken in a dutch oven if you get a chance!  Enjoy guys!

Braised Chicken Breasts

First of all, thanks for the Foodbuzz Top 9 Votes today!  Glad you guys liked my Chocolate Hazelnut Cake!  Guess I should keep baking things after all!

Today was our last CSA pick-up for the season.  Such a sad day because now I have to wait until May!  This was our first year doing a CSA and we did it through Grasshopper Distribution, right here in Louisville.  If you live in the area, or know anyone who does, I'd definitely highly recommend them!

We also ordered our Thanksgiving turkey through them as well and we get to pick up our lovely free-range bird on Monday!  Of course, my dad is cooking it (Thanksgiving is definitely his holiday), but it's great that we get to contribute something a little different and hopefully tastier than our previous frozen turkeys!  Maybe from now on, I'll have convinced my family to get free-range birds!  Who knows!

Anyway, I've got a pretty awesome braised chicken recipe today!  This comes from Greg from Sippity Sup's recipe!  I left out a few things and used chicken breasts instead of thighs.  I would normally use thighs anyway, but for some reason we just had breasts in the fridge and I didn't want to make a trip to the grocery, so braised breasts it was!


Ingredients:

Adapted from Sippity Sup's recipe

4 chicken breasts
1 cup flour
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons, plus 1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
juice and zest from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon dried parsley
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups orzo pasta
1/2 teaspoon dried coriander

Gently rinse each chicken breast under cold water and pat dry.  In a shallow dish, combine flour, salt, and pepper.  Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture, and shake off any excess.

In a large dutch oven under medium high heat, heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add onions and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.  Remove from pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Adding more oil if needed, and in batches of 2, add the chicken breasts.  Brown each side, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Set breasts on a plate and tent with foil.

Deglaze pot with wine, and scrape up any browned bits (these guys are packed with flavor!).  Cook until wine is reduced by half, about 4-6 minutes.  Add chicken stock and bring mixture to a boil over high heat.

Add in reserved onions and raisins into pot.  Bring to a simmer and add all of the chicken breasts in, making an even layer.  Cover pot with lid and slowly simmer for about 1 hour.

While the chicken is cooking, mix lemon zest, lemon juice, and parsley in a small bowl.  Heat a small skillet under medium heat.  Add garlic, and stir continuously until garlic just starts to turn golden.  Remove the garlic and mix in with lemon/parsley mixture.  Stir well to combine. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the garlic mixture.  Let mixture sit at room temperature until chicken is ready.

About 20 minutes before chicken is done, you can start preparing your orzo.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add orzo.  Cook according to package directions for al dente, about 7-9 minutes.  Drain and return to pot.

Add 1/4 cup olive oil and dried coriander to orzo.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Stir in lemon/parsley mixture.

Lay orzo down on a large platter.  Top with chicken thighs and any sauce from pot over top.

This was pretty delicious!  I thought maybe braising the chicken breasts would result on something somewhat dry, but this was actually surprisingly juicy!  I've never cooked with orzo before (Andy even thought he was eating rice the whole time!) but it's definitely one of my favorite pastas now!  It paired very well with the chicken and the sauce was quite flavorful!  Enjoy guys!

Braised Lamb Shanks

Now, I'll have to say I'm a pretty open-minded food eater. I practically eat and try to cook anything really. One thing that I haven't been able to properly do, or properly make taste well, is lamb. Yes, many say it's an acquired taste, and many just have a problem with eating a cute little baby lamb, but you know... it's the circle of life, just because it's cute, doesn't mean you can't eat it.

Anywho, I have finally had the huge burden of improperly cooking lamb taken off of my back. I've grilled lamb chops, I've roasted a rack, roasted a loin, and it just hasn't lost the "gameyness" of it. And who knows, maybe it's "supposed" to taste like that, but my tastebuds just seem to reject it. And then the final way I have never cooked lamb, braising, saved my life. I was almost about to give up on cooking lamb, and was quite hesitant on doing this as well (especially since lamb isn't the cheapest of proteins, and well... ruining meal after meal can be a little damaging to the pocket), but I'm glad I did. I felt a subtle "gameyness"... it was just right. The braising liquid entered the meat and flavored it so well that I couldn't help but smile after this meal. I had conquered something... it may not have been the world, but it was lamb. I can now check that off the list of things to accomplish in my lifetime.

Ingredients:

2 bone-in lamb shanks
5 carrots, peeled and sliced
5 parsnips, peeled and sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
4 cups red wine
4 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 tablespoons thyme
2 cups brussel sprouts, quartered
juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

Season the lamb shanks with the rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Heat a skillet under medium high heat, add about 1 tablespoon olive oil, and brown shanks, about 5 minutes per side.

Set your crockpot to the high setting. Add in lamb shanks. Cover with red wine and beef stock. Add in carrots, parsnips, and onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let cook for about 5-8 hours. (I had mine on the high setting for the first hour and then switched it to low while I was at work).

About 30-45 minutes before serving, add in mushrooms and brussel sprouts.

Serve lamb shanks on mixed vegetables that braised along with it in the crock pot.

This was great! I can't say it enough! The meat was tender, fall of the bone, and absolutely delicious. The vegetables were juicy and really delicious all on their own. Enjoy!

What foods have you all found challenging? Foods that you almost gave up on, and a miracle recipe saved you? I want to hear it!