Happy New Year!! Whew. Was 2017 crazy for everyone?? I feel like it lasted forever, but flew by in a flash. How is that possible. I think I lost part of my sanity along the way. Especially with the start of the food truck. What a venture! We enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot along the way. We can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store for us!
The Chef and I are starting a goal for ourselves. We decided we needed to take measures to help us stay passionate about the business. We have made it a goal to have Monday’s be our “Make it Monday”. We encourage you guys to take part with your own Make it Mondays! Start the week off right by making something you’ve always wanted to try, or a past favorite item. Set a goal to make as much food yourself as you can. This is the original purpose of food. Take back the pride when you sit down to dinner, knowing with full satisfaction exactly what went into the meal. (Ingredients and effort wise!)
Anytime you’re intentional with ingredients and the time you take to make a meal, your dish will come out well. I’m a big believer in cozy dishes. There is something so satisfying when you eat a meal that’s full of flavor and warmth on a cold day. The Chef loves this recipe because you can set it on the stove and let it go for half the day if you want. The instructions say you can take it off after 1 1/2 hours, but you can easily let it go for longer. It makes the flavor even bolder. It has a homey flavor to it, reminiscent of what mom and grandma (or grandpa in The Chef’s case. Sorry Grandma!- Jason) used to cook. The flavors melt together in a beautiful, velvety way that it enhances the richness of the mouth feel from the jus. The chicken is perfectly moist and well seasoned sitting in the reduced sauce. This kind of meal invites your friends and family to have the best conversation. It’s a vehicle to drive the moments that dinners are made for. Making memories that link the smells and emotions that blend together to form the feeling of home. And if we’re being honest with ourselves, we could all use a few more moments like that.
The traditional way is to put it over pasta, but we purposefully made this dish gluten free for our gluten free friends/followers. Feel free to add in some rotini noodles if you wish, but I love it as is. (Which says a lot because I am a big lover of the pasta.) Or you can pair it with a nice artisan bread and you’ve got a perfect full meal.
- 8 Chicken thighs/ drumsticks --skin on and bone-in
- 2 Tbsp oil of choice (for searing chicken)
- 1 Lg onion- cut julienne
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic- minced
- 1 1/2 cups white wine
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 2 red peppers- roasted
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Season and sear the chicken on both sides in a lightly oiled cast iron dutch oven on medium high heat. *Preheat the dutch oven so you get the heat immediately to sear the chicken.* Remove chicken. Cook onions until you get some browning/caramelizing. Then add in tomatoes. Cook until soft and wrinkling. Deglaze with white wine. Gently scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the flavor you just created. (This is called fond.)
- Put in the chicken stock and garlic. Place chicken back into the dutch oven as well, seasoning with more salt and pepper. Place on low and place the lid a little jarred. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.
- While you're waiting for everything to reduce, on an open flame roast the red pepper until all sides are mostly charred. Put the peppers in a glass bowl and cover with cellophane until cool enough to handle. Do not rinse off the char! Once it's cooled enough, gently scrape off the char with your fingers and thumb. It's ok to have a little char left on. Cut the top off and deseed the pepper. Continue to cut into slices.
- At anytime after the peppers are roasted, add into the rest of the ingredients. In the last 15 minutes of cooking, add in the sprigs of thyme. At the same time, add the tomato paste. Gently whisk around to incorporate into the jus.
- *You don't have to take the leaves off the sprig of thyme, but you do get a well rounded flavor when you do.
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