Mushroom Braised Chicken

Mushroom Braised Chicken

By Irvin Lin

Braising is a simply cooking technique that requires you to sear the food at a high direct temperature (on the stovetop) to give the food color and flavor, then place it in a covered container with liquid and let it cook in moist ambient heat (in the oven) to finish cooking. Braising is a great way to cook tough pieces of meat as well as a really easy way to make a large amount of food as it is nearly all “walk away” time. I used a mix of dried mushrooms for this recipe but if you only have dried Porcini mushrooms, you can substitute that in as per the original recipe. Don’t discard the braising liquid after you are done. Use it as a base for soup or stock for a dish like risotto as it is incredibly flavorful. The resulting vegetables will be very soft and mushy, but also quite tasty, so serve them along with the thighs.

Adapted from Taste & Technique by Naomi Pomeroy

Ingredients
1 ounce dried mixed mushrooms (see headnote above)
3 medium celery stalks
2 medium carrots
3 medium yellow onions
1 medium head of garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 dried bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh ground pepper

Directions
1. Place the dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and pour hot water (from the tap) over the mushrooms until covered. Set aside to let the mushrooms hydrate a bit as your cook and prep the remaining ingredients.

2. Cut the celery into 2-inch pieces. Peel and cut the carrots into 2-inch pieces. Peel and chop the onions. Separate the garlic cloves and peel them.

3. Place 1 tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan along with the celery, carrots and onions. Cook on medium high heat for 6 to 7 minutes or until the vegetables soften and the onions start to turn a little translucent. Remove from heat. Stir in the garlic cloves. Scoop the mushrooms out of the liquid, reserving the liquid for later and stir the mushrooms into the vegetables. Stir in the bay leaves and thyme. Empty the sauté pan into a large roasting pan, spread the vegetables evenly in the roasting pan, then wipe out the sauté pan with a paper towel. No need to clean it.

4. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Season each thigh with salt and pepper heavily. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the wiped out sauté pan until the oil starts to shimmer but before it smokes. Add 4 chicken thighs to the pan carefully, skin side down. Sear the chicken thighs on medium high heat, occasionally pressing down on the thighs to make sure they get an even distribution of heat on their skin, for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the skin looks golden brown. Occasionally peek to make sure that no super dark spots are forming, you don’t want to burn the thighs, but otherwise, don’t disturb the thighs too much. Once the skin is golden brown, move them to the roasting pan, in a single layer over the vegetables, skin side up. Wipe out the sauté pan, and repeat the process 2 more times with the remaining oil and chicken thighs.

5. Pour the chicken stock, wine, and 1 cup of the mushroom soaking liquid into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Be carefully not to dump the mushroom soaking liquid directly out of the bowl, as there may be grit and settlement in the bottom. Instead ladle out the liquid into a measuring cup. If there isn’t enough liquid, add additional chicken stock or plain water to get to 1 cup. You should have 4 cups total of liquid. Pour the liquid into the roasting pan, making sure that the chicken thighs edges are covered in liquid but the skin on top is not completely covered. If the skin is covered, it won’t crisp.

6. Cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil and roast in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Remove the foil from the pan, and increase the heat of the oven to 400ºF. Roast for an additional 15 minutes or until the chicken skin is crisp. Serve, making sure to remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs if possible.

Serve 6 people.