4/27/15

Braised Chicken Thighs with Potatoes, Porcini, and Dried Cherries

Just popping in here to share this recipe as well as the pretty photos Matt took of said recipe. 
Oh and also to show you my brand new bespoke apron. See, a blog reader named Claire, who I met at my reading at Skylight Books, makes aprons. Long story short, they're pretty cool and I commissioned her to make me one. Just a simple, classic linen apron is what I asked for, but she gave it a piece of flair. Point being, thank you, Claire! I love it.
This was the first recipe I've encountered in what seems like a long time that made me want to cook in the old-school, full-of-curiosity kind of way I used to experience much more often. And then, even more refreshingly, I actually enjoyed cooking it! We had a rare, gray and gloomy Saturday here (It even rained!) and I'm pretty sure that this helped set the tone for some braised chicken in sour cream and simmering whole cloves of garlic in water to make a broth. (Who the ef knew about garlic broth? I certainly didn't.)
One note: even though it's basically a one-pot dish, I wished we'd had some baguette slices on hand to accompany the rich sauce.  
OK, that's all for now. Thanks for all of your kind words re: the last post. I am applying to a job that sounds promising and writing something I'm excited about, and in general, not feeling quite so meek.

p.s. I got this recipe from Food and Wine's May issue, which I found to be chock-full of inspiring recipes. In short: consider me a new subscriber! Speaking of subscriptions, can someone please tell my mom to cancel her gift subscription to me of Bon Appétit? I've asked her a few times now, but the issues just keep coming! (Or maybe putting her on blast like this will get her to finally cancel? Thanks, MOM!)

Braised Chicken Thighs with Potatoes, Porcini, and Dried Cherries via Food and Wine
serves 4

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
11 large garlic cloves, 8 whole and 3 crushed
1 cup sour cream or crème fraîche
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (1/2 ounce)
Kosher salt
2 pounds large chicken thighs
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8-inch thick
1/2 cup unsweetened dried sour cherries (about 2 ounces)

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add the whole garlic cloves and cook over low heat, stirring, until golden and fragrant, 5 minutes. Add 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until reduced to 
2 cups, about 1 hour. Strain the garlic broth into a bowl.

In another bowl, whisk 1 cup of the garlic broth with the sour cream and porcini and season with salt; reserve the remaining garlic broth for another use.

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Season the chicken with salt and cook over moderate heat until golden all over, about 10 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil in the skillet. Arrange the potato slices in the pan, overlapping them slightly. Set the chicken skin side down on top of the potatoes. Scatter the cherries and crushed garlic around the chicken and pour the garlic sauce with porcini on top. Roast the chicken for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 300° and roast for about 45 minutes longer, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through.

Preheat the broiler and arrange the rack 6 inches from the heat. Turn the chicken skin side up and broil until 
the skin is golden and crisp, about 8 minutes. Serve.

20 comments:

Matthew said...

So good! Probably my favorite meal on what was a pretty amazing week of dinners. Thank YOU! XOXO

Tim Mazurek said...

AMELIA!!!! GREAT MINDS!!!! I said the same thing about the new Food & Wine! Will it become the magazine we have all been hoping for? (and thanks for making this, I was very curious about the recipe. but you should not lie on Instagram)

Janie said...

That looks so delicious!

Amelia Morris said...

@Matt THANK YOU for noticing my week of pretty amazing dinners.

@Tim :) :) Are you gonna make anything else from that issue? I wanna make the white beans with the dried Persian lime.

Tim Mazurek said...

Yes! Also the fried eggplant salad thing and the peanut crusted chicken skewers. And the queso with crisp mushrooms or something. I'm hungry.

Unknown said...

Oh man. Now I wish I'd picked food and wine magazine for my Christmas gift subscription. Maybe next year...

Dani Elis said...

Ok you now need to share the rest of your meals from this amazing week of dinners! :)

This dish sounds interesting, never a fan of fruit (dried or fresh) in savoury things but again you make it sound so good I just want to try it. Dried cherries are hard to come by here... do you think dried cranberries would be a good substitute?

Keep up the cooking and love Matt's photography! I keep trying to get my bf to take photo's for me but he just stands there asking what he should take a photo of when all I keep telling him is to avoid our hideous blue bench... I have given him an impossible task :S

Kara said...

Teddy!!!! Is adorable!!! Now I'm curious what lies you're telling on Instagram.

Kara said...

Meant to also say, you could never be meek ;) xx

bubu said...

It's look so beautiful and delicious!
ñami!!! :D

Amelia Morris said...

@Dani E If memory serves, you are in Australia and I'm guessing there is no Trader Joe's in Australia? Because TJ's sells the most delicious dried cherries! I think cranberries would be fine too though. Typically I'm not crazy about fruit in savory dishes but I think the tartness works here to cut all that umami from the porcini and the sour cream.

As for my week of dinners, WELL, if you must know, it all started with a variation on the corn, chile, and potato soup that's in the book. THEN, I made this amazing fried rice with broccoli and the leftover shredded chicken from the soup. AND then, because it was unseasonably cold, I made this minestrone-esque soup, which I served with cheddar cheese toasts. (I think it was good because they were all things I haven't made in a while.)

And on behalf of Matt, I say thank you!! His photos are really great. :) xoxx

Amelia Morris said...

@Kara I wasn't LYING. I swear! I just sometimes "insta"gram photos that I took more than a few instants ago. :)

Unknown said...

Hi, Amelia! I stumbled across your book at the library this week in the "new" section ... and was up late last night because I couldn't bear to put it down - tho sleep did eventually overtake me. When I awoke this morning, I immediately reached for it, squinting as my eyes slowly adjusted to the 60 watt light bulb in the lamp by my bed. I relate to you on so many levels: growing up being told I'd never amount to anything, born with a deep desire to "be a writer," and as an adult realizing I really don't have to be insulted by my family if I choose not to. I choose not to :) Now, at 62, I am excited about one thing: that first Social Security check set to arrive in my account on June 5 - bring it on, baby! Hey I really thought you were pregnant in Paris with all that nausea but apparently that came later. I haven't finished the book but I will today. A good book is meant to be read within a 24-hour time frame, and yours qualifies. But now that I've met your son, I think I'm in love (again) - he's so stinking cute! Well, tell Matt I said hey from Virginia and thank him for the amazing photography. Love you guys.
Mary

Unknown said...

P.S. I do not cook. At 13 I asked my mother to teach me to cook. She said, "No, I can do it better myself. Just go play." So I did. I've been playing ever since. In one way or another.

Love again,
Mary

Amelia Morris said...

@Mary Clark Mary!!!! Thank you so so so much for the kind words. What an amazing comment to find in my inbox this morning. And I really hope you enjoy the rest of the book as much as you have the previous parts.

re: what your mom told you, I can totally see myself saying that to Teddy. ha! Love love love that you've been playing ever since.

Lots of love,
Amelia

Unknown said...

Amelia, I did finish your book yesterday and didn't want it to end! I hate it when good books like yours end :( I was so sad to hear your Dad passed away because, having grown up on fairy tales, I'm always waiting for a "happily ever after" ending. By now I should know that's not how real life works. Sending big hugs to you, please write another book quick, I'm sitting here waiting :)

Love you,
Mary

Unknown said...

Yum! This sounds awesome. I love, love, love the pictures of Teddy and no, I haven't heard of garlic broth.

Unknown said...

Going to have to pick up the May issue of Food & Wine now! I used to get it but then had too many magazines and it got cut! Just curious..why don't you like bon appétit? I subscribe to it, and though I actually never really make anything from it I still love looking at it.

Amelia Morris said...

@sonia pap: Hi Sonia! I agree that BA has some great photos. I talked about some of my problems with the magazine in this post:
http://www.bonappetempt.com/2013/07/turkey-parsley-burgers.html

Also, I totally agree with what Luisa said here:
https://instagram.com/p/0K4mT6PtO8/?taken-by=wednesdaychef

Unknown said...

This recipe was a hit! I made this last night and followed it to the T. I was a bit skeptical since braising usually implies that the meat is somewhat submerged in the broth, and in this case, the 2 cups of broth only submerged the potatoes for me. I was afraid the chicken would come out dry after being in the oven for an hour but they turned out super tender!

One clarification that the recipe does not address is whether the chicken thigh is bone in or no bone. I decided to go with bone in and I only ended up with 5 chicken thighs, not 8, like in the picture.

I have been making lots of recipes from the Food & Magazine, and this was definitely a hit. Will make this one again.