White Wine Stewed Chicken

When I eat this stewed chicken, it makes me feel like I'm in the French countryside drinking white wine and nibbling local nutty cheese that tastes like barnyard. Its right before dinner. The sun is setting over the golden grass fields as hazelnut trees are only silhouettes on the horizon, my hunger is growing yet I'm not in a rush. Elaborate I know. But you can paint your own fantasy because that mine, so go get your own! Maybe this chicken recipe will help paint a picture.

This recipe follows the fundamentals of braising and stewing without the hours of commitment. The best thing about braising dark meat chicken is that it wont take all day, yet it will taste like it did. People will be surprised that it took you less than an hour and a half start to finish, where as pulled pork and brisket and ossobuco can feel like full day endeavors. I will give an overview of how the braising process works and the essential steps to have a flavorful pot of simmering deliciousness. The steps in this recipe can be applied to almost any cut of meat and even vegetables like braised leeks or fondant potatoes. Additionally once you understand what makes a good braise, the world is filled with hundreds of opportunities and variations based of a basic technique that results a flavorful fall of the bone meat every time.

Important Notes

• Braising can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. The most important part is that the essential steps are

• 1) browning the braising subject

• 2) sautéing some aromatic vegetables (most importantly onion or any allium)

• 3) deglazing with kind of liquid

• 4) slow cook in the oven with 50% of the meat submerged in liquid.

• For the chicken noodle stew, I made 200g worth of pasta using 20% semolina for the dough. Recipe and full description can be found here --> The Basics of Pasta Pt 1

• The price of a gourmet meal doesn't have to break the bank. Chicken quarters are one of the most cost effective cuts of meat in the supermarket and are often sold in bulk packaging. The spices can be a dried blend if fresh isn't available. Omitting aromatics like the pancetta/bacon is also ok. In terms of wine, Alton Brown always said "don't cook with a wine you wouldn't drink" although I respectfully disagree. I'd much rather savor my nice wine in a glass while I'm cooking and with dinner, rather than mixing it and simmering it into a sauce. The use of bottom shelf wine or even $3 boxed white wine will suffice just fine. That goes for broth as well, I used bullion I had laying around, and if anything, water can always be a substituted in.

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White Wine Stewed Chicken

Ingredients

3 lbs chicken leg quarters (1.3kg)

2 inch chunk of pancetta or 2 slices of thick cut bacon (60g)

2 tbs neutral oil 

1 medium carrot (110g)

2 stalks celery (90g)

1 large shallot or two small shallots (100g)

4 cloves of garlic

1 4in of rosemary 

2 bay leaves 

1 4in bushel of thyme 

1 ½ cups of chardonnay 

1 cup broth, stock, or water (more depending on braising pot)

Salt 

Pepper 

1. Slice the pancetta into pieces and place in the bottom of a cold oven safe pot, like a dutch oven. Set the flame to medium low and slowly allow the fat to render out of the pancetta. Flip and repeat on the other side. There should be a sheen of grease covering the bottom of the pan. Low and slow is the key. Remove from the pot once golden brown and about 1-2 tablespoons of grease is left behind.

2. 

   Pat dry the chicken and heavily season the leg quarters with salt and pepper on both sides. Add neutral oil to the pan, just enough to have a thin layer covering the bottom if the pancetta grease is not enough. Once the oil is shimmering, sear the chicken skin-side down. Allow to sear until a golden color is achieved, about 5 minutes, then flip and sear the other side for an additional 5 minutes.

3. Prepare the mirepoix by finely dicing the carrot, celery, and onion into small cubes. Once chicken is done searing, remove from the pan and add in the vegetables. Sauté the vegetables along with the pancetta on medium high heat, allowing them to soften and get some light color. Add a heavy pinch of salt and scrunch of black pepper. 

   

   

4. After the vegetables have sautéed for about 6 minutes, deglaze the pot, with just a splash of the white wine at first, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides with a wooden spoon to loosen the brown bits called fond. Add in the rest of the wine and broth. With the side of a knife or bench scraper, lightly crush the peeled garlic cloves against the counter, cracking them but keeping them still intact. Add in the garlic, fresh herbs into the pot. Bringing it up to a simmer and then turning the flame off. Taste for salt and adjust.

   
   

   

   I had some sage sitting around that I put in as well.

5. Nestle the seared chicken into the liquid, skin side up. The liquid should not cover the chicken entirely. The chicken should be about half submerged.

   
   

   

   The chicken should be about 50% covered by the liquid, so half is submerged and the other half is exposed. When you flip it half way through cooking, the exposed part will then be submerged, ensuring equal 50-50 cooking.

6. With the lid on, place the pot into a 325°F oven. After about 15-20 min, flip and rearrange the chicken for even cooking and liquid submersion. Cook for an additional 25 min. 

7. Remove the chicken from the pot and let it cool slightly. Discard the bay leaves, garlic, and the thyme and rosemary stems. Using two forks, shred the meat off the chicken, discarding the bones or reserving them for the freezer scrap broth bag. Place the pot with gravy back onto the stove and bring to a light simmer with the lid removed. (Add in optional vegetables for quick flavorful blanching. I used some broccolini, then removed it before adding back in the chicken) Simmer for about 5 min to lightly reduce the liquid. Turn off the heat and add the shredded chicken back into the gravy. Taste for salt.  

   

   

8. There are several options for serving, and this is where the meal can take different shapes, including additional add-ins. Adding pasta just shy of al dente into the gravy to finish cooking, makes what I like to call chicken noodle stew, and I may even dare to say its better than soup. Another way to hearty up the stew is to add in a can of unrinsed white beans, like canellini or great northern, then let them simmer in the liquid as it reduces to lightly soften. When photographing this recipe, I added broccolini into the gravy as it was reducing, to lightly blanch the vegetables for 5 min in the flavorful liquid, then removed the vegetables before adding the chicken back in. You could simply serve it with some toasted crusty bread, perfect for dipping. Serve with white wine and enjoy!