Chicken Thighs with Beaujolais and Dried Plums

  Crispy chicken thighs in red wine with dried plums are elegant and decadent, but this is also an easy recipe. The dried plums soften and soak up the delicious red wine sauce, adding richness to the dish.

We just got back from Paris! A fairly last-minute trip in terms of my typical Virgo-planning nature when it comes to international travel. We decided in August to go there in early December to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday and early Christmas. Seven of us. The whole fam-damily. Me, my mom, my husband, his mom, his sister, her husband, and his mom. Got that? That’s three moms and four “kids.”

My husband and I hadn’t been to Paris since 2005, the year we also went to the Cannes Film Festival for “Le Stahr Wahrs”. Let me clarify that we did not go to the screening. We milled around on the streets with the rest of the plebians looking for famous people. So, I had a lot of reading up to do to prepare. I didn’t want to miss one single thing. I was going to cram every food-related thing possible into the nine days we were there. (If I’m going all that way, I’m gonna stay a while.) Braised meats, rich sauces, pastries, bread, wine, cocktails, cheese. I did a lot of research and made an epic map of all the places I wanted to go. So no matter the neighborhood I found myself in, I had a list of pre-vetted choices to turn to.

While I was studying up, I read two books by chef David Lebovitz at the same time. The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City on my phone, and L’Appart in paperback. I have to say that I now consider The Sweet Life in Paris to be an absolutely essential guide for any American visiting the city, foodie or not. SO many insights into Parisian behaviors and customs. How to eat, drink, dress, wait in line (or not), shop, and speak like a local.

And, incidentally, I have always found Parisians, and French people in general, to be amazingly friendly, fun, and funny people. Especially if you just learn a few words of French, and when you are genuinely interested in their culture. Seriously, just learn bonjour, s’il vous plait, merci beaucoup, bonne journée, and au revoir, and endless doors will open for you. You have no excuse now that Duolingo exists.

Chef Lebovitz shares a recipe for turkey braised in Beaujolais Nouveau with dried plums, in a chapter about the complexities and nuances of the French language – the word for turkey was hard for him to pronounce. Spelled dinde, pronounced dand. I don’t happen to be a huge fan of turkey – I can take it or leave it – but the rest of the recipe sounded good to me.

So I adapted it to get to this chicken in red wine recipe with dried plums. This wine sauce is trés francais. The dried plums soak up all the wine and take on a rich texture that seems almost fatty and makes it seem very decadent.

His recipe calls for Beaujolais Nouveau which is a young wine that is released on the third Thursday of November. It’s not expensive and great for cooking. But it can be difficult to find year-round, so for this recipe, I used Beaujolais Villages. Easier to find any time of year and many bottles are priced from $10-$18. Don’t buy an expensive bottle for this sauce.

This chicken in red wine recipe is easy to prepare, but seems very elegant. You only need one skillet and one small sauce pan so clean up is minimal, which makes it great for a dinner party. Let this dish be the star of the show and serve it with mashed celery root or potatoes, and a simple green salad. That’s what I did for Christmas dinner this year, and it was truly one of the easiest, no-fuss holiday dinners I have ever made. I think I’m finally learning that fancy, special-occasion food doesn’t always need to be complicated and time-consuming.

Related recipes: For another easy yet kinda fancy chicken dish, try Honey Harissa Chicken Wings with Shishito Peppers. 

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Chicken Thighs with Beaujolais and Dried Plums

Adapted from The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz

For the chicken in red wine:

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

2 cups Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock plus more if needed

8 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt

Cracked black pepper

For the dried plums:

8 ounces dried plums

1/2-1 cup Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages

2 tbsp honey

1/2 cup water

1 one-inch strip orange zest

6 sprigs fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the dried plums in a small saucepan with thyme, honey, water and orange peel. Fill with wine until fruit is just covered, about 1/2 to 1 cup, depending on the size of your pan.

Bring to a low bowl and simmer for about 2-4 minutes until the Fruit starts to soften. Set aside to cool and allow them soak up the wine.

Dry the chicken skin with a paper towel. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.

In an ovenproof skillet over medium high heat, place the chicken thighs skin-side down. You may want to do this in two batches, depending upon the size of your pan. After about 8 minutes, when skin is brown and crispy, flip over to sear the other side for just a couple of minutes.

Remove chicken and set aside. Drain oil from pan.

Pour wine and chicken stock into pan and add bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and scrape browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add bay leaf and the bundle of fresh thyme sprigs.

Nestle the chicken thighs into the pan.

As you are placing the chicken into the pan, make sure that the sauce does not come up over the skin, you want the skin to remain crispy. Spoon excess sauce out of the pan as you go if necessary. (Conversely, if you don’t seem to have enough sauce for the chicken to braise properly, add a bit more chicken stock.)

Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer chicken thighs to a plate. Strain the sauce and put it back in the skillet. Bring to a low boil, then lower heat to a simmer and let it quickly reduce down until it thickens slightly.

Strain the dried plums, remove thyme and orange peel, and add to the sauce in the skillet. Add the chicken thighs back into the skillet. Simmer over low heat until plums and chicken are heated through.

To serve, place a few plums on the plate, drizzle sauce generously over plums and top with chicken.

This is an easy chicken thighs recipe that you’ll want to make again and again.