Mustard Spinach Chicken
Mustard Spinach Chicken
This is a kind of experiment, trying for a fairly simple list of "known good" ingredients.
* Three chicken leg-thigh combos (our place that sells organic chicken doesn't sell thighs only)
* Two small onions, chopped
* Teaspoon of minced or crushed garlic
* About a teaspoon of olive oil
* Chicken broth, about 2-3 cups
* Mustard powder (about a teaspoon or two)
* Salt and pepper to taste (lots of fresh ground black pepper is to my taste)
* About half a teaspoon of thyme
* Half a cup vermouth (or white wine)
* A lot of fresh baby spinach
You can use chicken breasts and even boneless/skinless chicken with this recipe, but you lose the flavor of the dark meat, its ability to stand up to slow cooking, and the flavor and mouth feel in the sauce of slow cooking it on the bone. Chicken thighs are also trivial to debone, and chicken legs almost as trivial. It's fattier than white meat, though.
Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven until wisps of smoke start to rise (medium heat.) Arrange the salted meat on the bottom of the pan and cook until the skin turns golden brown and a lot of the chicken fat is rendered out. Flip and treat the other side similarly.
Take the chicken out and pour off almost all of the fat. Cook the onions in what remains, stirring to release any brown bits stuck the bottom of the pan, until the onions start to turn golden. This would be a good time to add the garlic and cook it for about thirty seconds, if you don't forget to, like I did. Add seasonings, chicken broth, and wine, and bring to a fast simmer; add the chicken back in and return to a simmer. (That's when I remembered to add the garlic.)
Cover and cook on low heat for about an hour. Test to see that the chicken is done (dark meat may still be pink; you can tell by the way it comes apart); when it's done, add in the spinach and stir; cover for another few minutes until it's wilted.
Serve over brown rice; I used the last part of the chicken broth to cook the rice. You can either debone/deskin the chicken after serving it (messy-ish), or take a few minutes and do it ahead of time.
This is a kind of experiment, trying for a fairly simple list of "known good" ingredients.
* Three chicken leg-thigh combos (our place that sells organic chicken doesn't sell thighs only)
* Two small onions, chopped
* Teaspoon of minced or crushed garlic
* About a teaspoon of olive oil
* Chicken broth, about 2-3 cups
* Mustard powder (about a teaspoon or two)
* Salt and pepper to taste (lots of fresh ground black pepper is to my taste)
* About half a teaspoon of thyme
* Half a cup vermouth (or white wine)
* A lot of fresh baby spinach
You can use chicken breasts and even boneless/skinless chicken with this recipe, but you lose the flavor of the dark meat, its ability to stand up to slow cooking, and the flavor and mouth feel in the sauce of slow cooking it on the bone. Chicken thighs are also trivial to debone, and chicken legs almost as trivial. It's fattier than white meat, though.
Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven until wisps of smoke start to rise (medium heat.) Arrange the salted meat on the bottom of the pan and cook until the skin turns golden brown and a lot of the chicken fat is rendered out. Flip and treat the other side similarly.
Take the chicken out and pour off almost all of the fat. Cook the onions in what remains, stirring to release any brown bits stuck the bottom of the pan, until the onions start to turn golden. This would be a good time to add the garlic and cook it for about thirty seconds, if you don't forget to, like I did. Add seasonings, chicken broth, and wine, and bring to a fast simmer; add the chicken back in and return to a simmer. (That's when I remembered to add the garlic.)
Cover and cook on low heat for about an hour. Test to see that the chicken is done (dark meat may still be pink; you can tell by the way it comes apart); when it's done, add in the spinach and stir; cover for another few minutes until it's wilted.
Serve over brown rice; I used the last part of the chicken broth to cook the rice. You can either debone/deskin the chicken after serving it (messy-ish), or take a few minutes and do it ahead of time.