Braising Hell

  I, unapologetically, love braised meat.  I don't know how you couldn't love it.  Taking a "cheap" cut of meat and slowly simmering it in a silky broth until it's fall-off-the-bone-tender is the way straight to my heart.  Ok Annie, stop swooning over meat.

Let's get down to business;

This is braised chicken thighs with roasted garlic and mushrooms

What we have here is:

5 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

1 small onion, diced

1/2 cup peas

4 medium white mushrooms, chopped roughly

2 heads garlic, roasted

1/4 cup flour, for dredging

1/4 cup white wine(mine is Pinot Grigio)

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Parsley

A few sprigs of thyme

1 lemon

Salt

Pepper

*I contemplated using beer instead of wine, so if you prefer beer give it a go or maybe even hard cider. 

Season the chicken with salt and pepper, dredge lightly in the flour

*you could skip this step if you really want to, but the flour helps get the outside crispy and it will help thicken the sauce without having to make a roux

When the chicken is all coated, begin to heat a large pan/skillet/pot/whatever (as long as it has a lid) over medium-high heat and add 2-3 tablespoons of oil(olive, vegetable, whatever you normally use)

When the oil is hot add the chicken pieces skin side down

*Season this side if you haven't already

Let the chicken cook skin side down until GBD(remember? Golden, brown, & delicious). The chicken pieces will release from the pan in their own, if it's sticking don't force it, just let it brown.  Then, flip.

O.M.G. Hold the phone, that is serious GBD-ness

Ok, cook the chicken on the underside for 10-12 minutes and remove to another bowl

Add the diced onions to the pan and sauté.

Cook the onions until they begin to soften and add the mushrooms 

Cook the mushrooms with the onion until they become slightly soft and begin to release their own moisture, about 6-8 minutes.

Remove the onions and mushrooms from the pan and deglaze with the wine and squeeze half of the lemon

Oh look, an empty pan.  Exciting. 

While the wine is in the pan and bubbling away, use your cooking utensil to scrape up all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.

Then reintroduce the chicken, onions, mushrooms to the pan, also add the roasted garlic

Zest a lemon

Add that to the pot, along with the thyme

Add the chicken stock about half way up the chicken pieces, don't completely cover the chicken.

*these look like the exact same picture, which is good because I didn't add too much stock as to disturb everything and have it floating in stock.  Good job, Annie.

Cover

Oh cool, a pot with a lid on it. 

Simmer this over low-medium heat for 30-40 minutes(depending on how big the thighs are)

You could also put this in the oven at 350 for 30-ish minutes, I used the stove because my range can be kind of a temperamental b-...witch when the stove and oven are both on. 

When the chicken pieces are cooked, add the peas and parsley

Do this just at the end so they don't over cook and get all mushy 

Squeeze the remaining half of the lemon over everything. 

Excuse the steam, it's a foods best garnish. 

Aaaaaannnnndddd serve.

I had it with a side of arugula and some crusty bread and it was perfect.  But it would be great with mashed potatoes or polenta or whatever you want, it's your dinner.