Chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on are a must for this recipe as the skin gets nice and crispy and the chicken is so moist and falls off the bone after being simmered in chicken stock, thyme, lemon, and olives for an hour.
This recipe is originally from Gwyneth Paltrow's "It's All Good" cookbook, mildly adapted. The recipe is such a hit it's a repeat visitor for dinner. And it is incredibly easy!
Braising sounds so fancy so it'll definitely wow your guests but there's really nothing too it. You need chicken thighs with the bone-in and skin-on which you generously douse in salt and pepper and place skin-side down into hot oil. When the skin is nice and brown and crispy and removes easily from the pot, you remove and add your other ingredients. There should be some bits stuck to the bottom which then you add some kind of liquid, in this case chicken stock, but you can also add some white wine which I've tried and definitely loved, and when the liquid hits the hot pot everything should be slightly released from the bottom which you scrape up with a wooden spoon. Easy.
This recipe also uses kalamata olives (or a different olive of your preference but I love the sourness of kalamata), lemon juice, fresh thyme, garlic, and shallots to create such a comforting, homey, taste. Definitely cook some rice or potato, or anything that's going to soak up some of the gravy (which is gluten-free of course) and I served mine with some roasted Brussels Sprouts with some extra fresh thyme.
Just remember, this recipe takes about an hour and 15 minutes, so plan ahead but it's well worth it!
Ingredients:
4-5 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
3 shallots, sliced into thin rings
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or substitute the 1/2 cup with some dry white wine)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced in half
10 kalamata olives, pitted (or olive of choice)
Juice from 1 lemon
Leaves from 1 sprig of thyme (plus extra for serving)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil
Instructions:
1. Generously salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
2. Pour some olive oil in a large cast-iron pot or Dutch oven and set over high heat. Once the oil is HOT, place chicken skin side down and cook until browned 4-5 minutes (be careful as some of the oil might spit at you). Turn the chicken over and let it brown for another 4-5 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.
3. Turn the heat to medium and add the shallots to the pot. Cook, stirring often, until they soften up a bit. Turn the heat to high for a few seconds and spash 1/2 cup of the chicken stock (or dry white wine) and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot.
4. Reduce heat back to medium and add the rest of the chicken stock. Add the chicken, skin side up along with any juice that's accumulated on the plate. Evenly scatter the garlic, olives, thyme leaves, and juice from the lemon.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil, turn the heat to as low as possible, cover the pot, and cook for 1 hour, or until the chicken is about to fall off the bone.
6. Uncover the pot and raise the heat to high. Let the mixture boil and reduce to thicken the sauce until it's a light gravy consistency. Serve chicken with rice and vegetable with a healthy dose of gravy, thyme, and olives on top. Enjoy!