There is a category of recipe I think of as proof-of-life cooking. Not ambitious cooking. Not impressive cooking. Just: I am a person who lives in a home and feeds herself, and here is the evidence.
This recipe belongs in that category. Full disclosure - I've been cooking this for YEARS. It's an adaptation of Joy The Baker's weeknight chicken recipe.
I don't know what to call it. Chicken and Potatoes is what I say when someone asks what I'm making. It's technically a braise, I think, but calling it a braise makes it sound like I know what I'm doing, and I want to be honest with you about the level of intention involved here.
The level of intention is: I had chicken thighs that needed to be used. I had potatoes. I had half a bottle of white wine that I wasn't going to finish because I'd had two glasses and then fallen asleep on the couch, which is a thing that happens now. I had garlic because I always have garlic. I have a slight garlic problem. Eight cloves is the minimum, not the maximum.
The thing about chicken thighs is that they are forgiving in a way that chicken breasts are not. You can overcook them slightly and they're still good. You can undercook them slightly and they'll finish in the sauce. They want to be braised. They were made for this. I feel a kinship with them.
I will tell you that I sometimes spend what feels like a very long time trimming the fat and removing veins off the chicken thighs. This is optional. It is also, I have come to understand, a form of OCD coming out. I must get every piece of fat that will not render in time off of my chicken without removing any muscle, I tell myself. 27 minutes later, my oil is burned and I have no idea how I managed to scrape fat off of chicken thighs for almost 30 minutes. It should be a low-stakes task. For some reason, my brain insists on perfection. Some people do puzzles. I defat chicken thighs. We all have our things.
The trick at the end — smashing one of the potato chunks into the sauce — is the whole move. It thickens everything into something glossy and clingy and good. Don't skip it. It takes four seconds and it's the difference between broth and sauce.
Serve it over rice. Add peas if you have them, because peas are inexpensive, taste nearly as good from frozen as fresh, never have any strange bugs hiding in them and require no washing/chopping. It doesn't feel nearly as satisfying as, say a Brussel sprout or a floret of Romanesco cauliflower, but I also don't have to spend 33 minutes inspecting each floret for tiny little green worms. Because.... surprise. There are worms in all of your brassicas. I know it's just extra protein. I also know that we could save the world if we all started eating bugs instead of cows. But I don't want to.
✦ end of essay
✦ Recipe
Chicken and Potatoes
prep
10 min
cook
35 min
serves
4
Ingredients
- 4 bone-inchicken thighs
- 3 mediumYukon Gold potatoes, cut into large chunks
- 1 mediumyellow onion, sliced
- 6 cloveselephant garlic, smashed
- ½ cupdry white wine
- 1 cupchicken stock
- 2 tbspolive oil
- salt and pepper
- cooked basmati rice and peas, to serve
Method
- 01Season both sides of the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper.
- 02Heat a large skillet over medium. Add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add all the chicken pieces and cook undisturbed until golden, 4–5 minutes. Flip and brown the other side.
- 03Add the onion, potato chunks, and garlic. Toss so everything is coated in the pan drippings and begins to cook down.
- 04Pour in the white wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
- 05Add the stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook 20–25 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through.
- 06Uncover and let the sauce reduce another 5 minutes. Serve over rice with peas.
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