Chicken with Champagne and Thyme

Here's a simple dish I made a few weeks back involving the left over champagne I had from New Years.

To create this dish you'll need the following:
-chicken thighs (bone in and skin still on)
-white onion
-green onion
-fresh garlic
-white rice
-champagne
-lemon
-fresh thyme
-chicken stock
-heavy cream
-butter
-cooking oil of your choice
-salt and fresh ground black pepper

Prepare your rice as normal. I prefer to use a rice maker as it always turns out perfect, and takes very little effort. This will take awhile, so go ahead and start the rice first before moving on to the actual fun part of the recipe.

First thing you'll want to do is prep the chicken. Chicken thighs are great. They are packed full of flavor, and are relatively cheap. Don't be intimidated by the skin or bone. Chicken cooked with the bone in tends to be more moist and succulent. The skin on the outside will become crispy and delicious if you don't screw up the cooking process. Of course, you could always buy the thighs de-boned and skinless, but I don't suggest it. Another option is to de-bone it yourself, which would allow you to make your own chicken stock, if you so choose.

Cut off the excess fat, (but not all of it) from the thighs. Then using a paper towel or two, pat the chicken dry. This is very important. Making sure the chicken is dry will allow the skin to get crispy and prevent the hot oil from splattering so much and making a mess of your stove-top and shirt. No one likes a greasy shirt. That's why I cook chest naked. I also go to the post office chest naked, which has gotten me into trouble a few times. This is also a good time to chop up your onions and garlic.

To season the chicken, use salt, fresh ground black pepper, and the zest from the lemon. Make sure you get both sides. Drizzle some oil over the top and rub the seasoning in and try to get some under the skin a little. Get your hands messy, show the chicken some love.

Heat up some oil in your pan and lightly salt it. You'll want the oil to be nice and hot before you lay in the chicken. Otherwise, the skin on your final product might turn out chewy and rubbery. If the oil is just starting to smoke, you know it's ready for the chicken. Make sure you lay the thighs in skin side down. Once they are in, don't move them around too much or start flipping them. You need a high, consistent, heat on that skin side to properly render the fat. Just lay them in and leave them to cook until the skin side is browned, crispy, and beautiful.

I posted this on another forum, and got some pretty good advice from cooks who are more skilled than me. One such tip was to try this in a stainless pan. They're able to get hotter, and do so more quickly, and produce more goodies to be deglazed for the pan sauce part of this recipe. I don't currently own such a pan, but it is something I plan on picking up one of these days. Take a peek to see how the skin is looking. When ready, flip them all over to cook the other side.

Brown up the other side of the chicken. The total time in the pan will not be more than 5 minutes. Make it hot and fast, like when you're with your significant other. And the two of your are pan frying chicken. What did you think I was hinting at? Get your mind out of the gutter. Once seared, remove the chicken from the oil and place into the oven to finish cooking. It will not take long, only about 7 minutes or so. Like how long you last in bed with your significant other. This time I mean it.

Now, while your chicken thighs are finishing in the oven, it's time to create your pan sauce. Drain most of the oil from the pan, leaving just enough to cook your onions. Turn the heat down for this, as cooking the onions is a more delicate process. Saute. One they just start to soften up, add in your fresh thyme and garlic. To improve the final presentation, you could hold off on adding the green onions until later, so they better keep their color. 

Add your champagne to the pan to deglaze. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape off any goodies that may have formed. These add a depth of flavor to your sauce. (Note: it is very difficult to take pictures and cook the sauce at the same time, so the following pictures were all taken right in a row, when actually you'll need to cook the sauce and reduce between steps.) Cook down the alcohol a bit before moving onto the next step.

Now add in some chicken stock. If you have your own homemade stock, use that. It will really elevate this dish to another level. If you're lazy, like me, add in the store bought stuff. Reduce.

Add in a squeeze of lemon juice that you used for zest. Don't use the whole lemon! Save the extra lemon for mixed drinks, or squeeze some down your garbage disposal with a few ice cubes to clean it out.

Add in some heavy cream. Turn the heat down even lower at this point, just enough to keep it simmering.

By far the most important ingredient; add in a knob of butter to finish off the sauce.

Again, these pictures don't accurately represent what the sauce will look like from step to step, but when it's ready to serve it will look like this:

Check to make sure your rice is cooked and ready to go.

Take the chicken out of the oven and allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes. Lay down a bed of rice and carefully place the chicken on top.

Now take your sauce and drizzle over the top of the chicken and rice.

 

The rich, creamy, sauce will go nicely with the crispy, zesty, chicken. It will also keep the rice interesting. It has been suggested to me that blitzing the sauce in a food processor would be an option to make it thick, which I think is a fine idea. Perhaps I'll give that a try next time. You can also be creative with the ingredients; add some more vegetables, or some mushrooms for example. The technique of starting chicken off in a pan, finishing in the oven, and making a sauce, can be applied in countless variations. The champagne, for instance, was just an alternative to deglazing a pan with white wine. After using it, I was quite happy with the way the flavor turned out. Enjoy!