“I enjoy cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food…”

Weekends are for sleeping in, walking in the forest and cooking delicious foods. It was raining while I walked in the woods this afternoon, there were a couple of trees uprooted from past windstorms. The sound of raindrops on my hood kept me company while I strolled amongst the trees stopping at the pond where to my surprise there was a flock of baby ducklings, in January? I can’t say if that’s too early for hatchlings but it felt like it was.

The rainfall warning last night kept us cozied up in blankets on the couch. We’ve been watching season 2 of Vikings Valhalla and set up a few rounds of Jenga on the coffee table to play in between episodes.

I love easy recipes, especially ones you can make in one pan. This simple rustic chicken can be made in 30 minutes and pairs perfectly with rice or roasted potatoes. We enjoyed our meal to the sound of the rain.

Rustic Chicken with White Wine Garlic Gravy

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp cooking oil
• 6 pieces skin-on/bone-in chicken thighs, or any skin-on chicken, such as breasts or drumsticks
• Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
• 20 cloves of garlic, separated and peeled (approx. 2 full heads)
• 2 Tbsp  all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup dry white wine, any kind, or alternately use more chicken broth instead
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 1/4 tsp  fresh thyme leaves, or about 3/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 2 Tbsp butter

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 400F. In a stove-top and oven-safe Dutch oven or oven-safe skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Dry the chicken pieces well by patting them with a paper towel. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with a bit of salt and the pepper. Cook the chicken until well browned, turning regularly, for about 8 minutes, then remove chicken to a plate. You can remove and discard some of the fat in the pan if you have lots, but do leave a bit to cook the garlic in the next step.
• Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic, and cook, stirring regularly, until it is starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the garlic and stir until combined. Return the chicken to the pan, COVER, and bake for about 15 minutes in the pre-heated 400° oven (If your pan or skillet doesn’t have a lid, you can tightly cover the top with tin-foil instead.) *Chicken breasts will take longer.
• Remove the pan from the oven and put it on the burner again over medium-high heat. Be careful not to touch the hot pan, use oven gloves! Remove the chicken pieces from the pan to a clean plate. , whisk in the wine and simmer for 1 minute to cook off the alcohol. Whisk in the broth, thyme and a bit more salt and pepper if needed, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until the gravy thickens. Turn the heat off and stir in the butter. Taste sauce and add more salt and pepper, if it needs it. Add the chicken back to the pot to re-warm with the sauce. Serve spooned over roasted or mashed potatoes or rice.

“You can’t go wrong with relatively simple comfort food. It’s also about ease. Some cook to impress. I cook for people to enjoy the food”.

Thank you for joining me and I hope you’ll try this recipe. If you’d like to support my blog, you can do so here

Love,

Jennifer