Recipe: Chicken Thighs Braised in Red Wine

This makes about four thighs, which is enough to fit in a decent sized pot without crowding. For more or less, adjust all elements accordingly.

Place an enameled cast-iron or heavy gauge steel pot on medium to medium-high heat. Add enough oil to fully coat the bottom of the pot; extra virgin olive oil will give good results, so long as you don't burn it. Adding the oil before the pot begins to preheat allows you to keep an eye on it and thus prevent burning. 

Into the shimmering oil, place bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs which you have dusted with kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and perhaps a bit of all purpose flour. 

Brown the thighs on both sides, adding oil to the pot if it looks too dry. As with all proteins to be adequately browned, the thighs must be in a single layer and have about an inch of space between them, hence four thighs. For more than that, work in batches.

Remove the chicken, lower the heat by a quarter turn. At this point, many recipes will advise you to discard the excess oil. I find that a waste of rich flavor and texture, but feel free to do so if you want to save a few calories. I'll offer another calorie saver below. 

Add about 1/2 cup finely sliced red onion and fry for one minute, then add one tablespoon or so of minced shallot, and one to two whole cloves of garlic worth per thigh (minced, coarse, or left whole), about one sprig of thyme per thigh, and one bay leaf per thigh. 

With the thyme, as with all sprig based herbs, you have several options: you can run your fingers backward along the twig, shearing off thyme leaves and discarding the woody twig, you can tie up the thyme sprigs with twine (known as a bouquet garni), or toss them all in and pick them out once its done. You can also add rosemary, though I'd advise using half as much rosemary as you do thyme.

Now, for the red wine: never use bad wine to cook with. As the great Julia Child wrote in Mastery of French Cooking, wine concentrates itself during cooking, so a bad wine's flavors will only intensify in foulness. An expensive wine isn't needed either. There are excellent riojas, chiantis, and pinot noirs for around $10 to $15 at any Total Wine or Trader Joe's. Riojas are particularly good for cooking with and many reliable brands are below $10. I personally avoid California, but I'd use a cabernet before I use the ubiquitous merlot.

Warm the wine before adding it to the pot. How much wine to add? You want the totality of the sauce (wine plus aromatics) to reach half to three quarters of the way up the side of the chicken thigh if it is resting on the bottom of the pot. Add a tablespoon of tomato PASTE. Once the wine is added, scrape the bottom of the pot gently but thoroughly; you want the flavorful brown bits on the bottom to incorporate into the sauce. Return the thighs to the pot, skin side up. At this point you can afford a little crowding in the pan, since liquid and steam will do the rest. Taste the sauce at this point. It should taste slightly under salted to you. Remember, it will concentrate. If it tastes completely unsalted, add a pinch of salt. 

Reduce the heat and simmer as slowly as your stove allows, or cover the pot and set your oven to 275. After about thirty minutes, flip the thighs skin side down, noting the tenderness. Depending on your stove, the pot material, and the volume you've filled it to, the cooking times will vary, so stick a fork in it about every 15 minutes after that, and remove once its tender enough for you. Taste the sauce again, and correct the salt if needed. 

To reduce fat content even further, strain the sauce, and chill it over night separately from the solids. The fat will have congealed as a waxy layer on top. Remove it, lament the loss of glorious flavors, then reconstitute and re-warm.

Serve on rice, pasta, or bread, or with peeled and chopped yellow potatoes simmered in the sauce.

See it here:

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