When I first came across this recipe, published by liberal politcal site, mommyblog, and recipe hub Wonkette, it reminded me a lot of a recipe I came across in the local paper back in the day for Country Captain Chicken; which I love, but my husband? Not so much. So, considering how very much I like my old recipe, I thought I’d give this one a try with, of course, a few changes of my own.
Most excellent, so, thank you Pinkham’s Law at Wonkette – even if I changed stuff.
INGREDIENTS
Seasoned Flour:
•1/2 cup flour
•1/2 tsp paprika
•1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
•1/2 tsp dried parsley
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp garlic powder
•1/4 tsp curry powder
•1/4 tsp celery salt
•1/4 tsp dried basil
•1/4 tsp Cayenne
Chicken:
•4 to 6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
•3 tbsp butter
•1/2 cup red wine
•1 (14-1/2 ounce) can tomatoes
•2 tbsp brown sugar – I used raw sugar
•2 tbsp vinegar – I used sherry vinegar, but cider would be good here, too
•2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•1 tsp salt
•1 tsp chili powder
•1 tsp dry mustard
•1/2 tsp celery seed
•1/2 tsp dried thyme
•1/2 tsp garlic powder
•1 tbsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•Sautéed Onions & ‘Shrooms
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Whisk the flour together with the seasonings in a large, flat bottomed bowl.
Dip each thigh into the seasoned flour to coat, patting gently on each side to get the flour to adhere.
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the chicken and cook for three or four minutes per side, just to brown each piece of chicken.
Note: unless you have a huge pan, if you are planning this for six (or more) you will be wanting to do the browning in stages so you don’t crowd the pan. It’s all cool, though, we are just browning the pieces here, we’ll really cook ’em in a bit.
Remove the browned chicken to a paper towel lined plate or platter to drain while we make the sauce.
Do not drain the fat from the pan.
Deglaze the pan with the red wine, stirring to scrape up any tasty browned bits that might have stuck to the bottom.
I used a SCANPAN, so no crusty bits, but it’s good to be sure, and you want that wine to cook just a bit anyway.
Cook, stirring often, until the wine and any cooking liquids in the pan have thickened and been reduced by half.
Add the tomatoes and remaining sauces and seasonings to the pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and add the chicken thighs and the onion and ‘shrooms to the pot.
Stir to mix and to bring the sauce up and over the thighs, then cover and cook on top of the stove for 45 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until the chicken is cooked through (165º).
What a fine pot o’ chicken!
Tender, tasty, and practically perfect for dinner over garlic and cream cheese smashed potatoes and asparagus.
So…
it would seem we have some friends clamoring to try this, but, there is a bit of fussiness to doing this for a crowd. I think, that for a dinner party, I would do the browning and sauce making ahead of time, then tumble everything into a slow cooker for a couple of hours whilst we chat and sip sparkling cocktails of some sort.