Saturday, December 12, 2009

Country Captain

Melanie asked me to post this recipe, its a good and easy chicken dish.

Turn the oven to 400F.
Throw your biggest frying pan on the stove and crank it to high.
Get a 6 pack of bone in, skin on, chicken thighs. That is, by far, the best part of the chicken; tender, juicy, and with the bone in the flavor is outstanding. Rinse them off with cool water, then run them through some flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of curry powder and some salt. For me “some flour” is usually about 3/4 cup.

Pour some olive oil into the hot pan, place the floured chicken thighs into the pan skin side down. If they don’t sizzle, then you didn’t heat the pan enough, fry them up until they are nice and crispy, then flip and crisp up the other side. Put them on a cooling rack. At this point the chicken is not cooked all the way through, its just nice and browned. I usually do 3 at a time.

Now you have a hot pan with olive oil, rendered chicken fat, curry and flour, the possibilities are endless. :D Deglaze the pan with chicken stock; basically put 2 cups of chicken stock into the pan and whisk it. Now you have the start of a nice gravy. Add 2 tablespoons of good curry paste, mix it all up real good. Throw in 2-4 cups of cut frozen veggies, I use the corn, peas, carrots, green beans combo. Add 1-2 cups of frozen pearl onions and 2 cups of fresh button mushrooms. Mix it all up and cook it up for about 5 minutes. Toss in the left over flour that you dredged the chicken with and mix it all up, this will help thicken the gravy and add some flavor.

Put the browned chicken thighs on top of the veggies skin side up. Put the top on the pan and put it in the 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Then remove the top and cook for another fifteen minutes. Remove the pan  from the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

I like to eat this dish over rice.
Heat your pan, add 2 tablespoons butter, add 1 cup of rice. Brown the rice, but don't burn it! Add 2 cups of chicken stock, cover and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer covered for ~20 minutes or until done. Best. Rice. Ever.

Keep in mind that all of my measurements are approximate, you need to look at what you are cooking and make command decisions. I rarely measure anything when I am cooking, I add what looks right and I taste as I go.

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