Chicken Thighs in Red Wine with Dried Plums

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: French

Diet: Gluten Free, Low Lactose

Keyword: chicken thighs in red wine, Chicken thighs recipe with red wine

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 45

Total Time: 55

Servings:

Calories: 694kcal

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

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Equipment

Ingredients

For the dried plums

8 oz dried plums
½ cup Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages
½ cup water
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 ½ inch strip orange peel

For the chicken thighs in red wine

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
2 cups Beaujolais Nouveau or Beaujolais Villages
¾ cup low-sodium chicken stock plus more if needed
8 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
kosher salt
cracked black pepper

Instructions

For the dried plums

Place the dried plums in a small saucepan with thyme, honey, water and orange peel. Fill with wine until fruit is just covered, about ½ 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.

For the chicken thighs in red wine

Preheat the oven to 425
Dry the chicken skin with a paper towel. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.
In an oven proof 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 too close to 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 through a fine mesh sieve 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.

Notes

I used my GreenPan oven proof skillet to cook this recipe. If you would like to cook and present in one dish, this Lodge enameled cast iron casserole works very well.
I highly recommend David Lebovitz's book The Sweet Life in Paris. It inspired this recipe and will give you so many insights into the food and people of the wonderful, mysterious, quirky city that is Paris.

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