Sunnys Easy Smothered French Onion Chicken Thighs Food

SUNNY'S EASY SMOTHERED FRENCH ONION CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• For the chicken: Add the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, a nice pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper to a medium bowl. Stir to distribute. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat. Let sit in the bowl.
• For the gravy: Add the butter and flour to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir together with a wooden spoon and cook, stirring, until a deep brown color but not burning, about 6 minutes. Add the onions, Dijon, thyme, paprika and garlic and stir to coat. Slowly add the stock and stir. Raise the heat to a simmer and cook until thickened like gravy. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
• Add the oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. When it begins to swirl, shake the excess flour off the chicken and add to the pan. Sear on both sides, 6 to 8 minutes per side, then place in the gravy and simmer, covered, to complete cooking, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.
• Cover potatoes and garlic with water by 1 inch in a large pot. Bring to a boil, add salt and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well.
• Put the potatoes and garlic back in the pot and cook over low heat to evaporate the rest of the water. Mash in the butter with a potato masher. Add the heavy cream in stages until the desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper.

SUNNY'S EASY SMOTHERED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and thyme and more olive oil if needed and saute until lightly browned and tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Let cook until the onions are softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Mix in the flour and mustard and cook for about 2 minutes. Whisk in the beef stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the grilled chicken breasts, then cover the skillet and turn down the heat to medium-low. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Prepare the rice according to the package directions. Remove the rice to a large bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons parsley. Place rice on a platter, then top with the chicken and mushroom sauce. Garnish with the remaining fresh parsley.

SMOTHERED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Brown chicken: Dry chicken thighs thoroughly using paper towels. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil over high heat. When the oil is rippling, carefully lay the chicken, skin side down in an even layer, into the hot oil. (You may need to do this in batches to avoid crowding.) Allow the chicken to brown for 5 minutes on each side, adjusting the heat from high to medium-high as needed to prevent burning. When the chicken has been browned, return all of the pieces to the pot, lower heat to medium-low, and continue to cook the meat through, turning occasionally, 15 more minutes.
• Caramelize onions: Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. There should be caramelized bits of meat and skin, or "fond," stuck to the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat back to medium and add onions to the accumulated chicken fat. Sweat the onions until they start to caramelize and stick to the bottom, stirring often, 10 minutes. Deglaze the bottom of the pot by scraping with a wooden spoon to release the fond. Add celery, garlic, poblano and jalapeño peppers; stir to combine. Allow the onion mixture to sit undisturbed for long enough to create more fond, then stir to deglaze; repeat this process for about 45 minutes.As the water cooks out, the onions will begin to darken and caramelize, and as the caramelization progresses, it will take less time to stir and deglaze the pan. You will be done when most of the liquid is cooked out, and you see only clear fat at the edges of the pot. (It may be challenging to keep up with the speed of the fond sticking to the bottom-it's a labor of love, but worth it!)
• Sauce: When the onion mixture has reduced in volume by ⅔ to a paste-like consistency and no liquid is left in the pot, add the chicken back in. Begin building the sauce by adding water, a ½ cup at a time. Continue the same process of creating a fond on the bottom of the pot then deglazing, allowing the chicken and onion mixture to go through the caramelizing process again. Repeat this step until the onion mixture is a dark brown paste and the chicken is starting to fall apart, 10 minutes. Add remaining water to cover (adding more water if necessary), and salt to taste. Stir, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, 1 hour.
• When the dish is ready, chicken thighs will be very tender and falling off the bone in a rich brown gravy. Season with more salt to taste and about 16 cranks of black pepper. Fold in scallions. Serve over hot rice. It's a "rib-sticking, sloppy dish," and it's meant to be eaten that way.