LEMONY GRILLED BONELESS CHICKEN THIGHS

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

One of our favorite main dishes, boneless chicken thighs cook on the grill very fast and always turn out moist and tender. For this marinade, make sure you leave it several hours in the fridge, the acidity in the lemon won’t affect the texture and the flavor will be much more pronounced. Yes, that is a lot of meat for two people, but we always cook with leftovers in mind.

LEMONY GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

8 boneless, skin-less chicken thighs
for the marinade:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1/4 cup avocado oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp Dijon mustard

Make a marinade whisking well all ingredients in a bowl. Add to the pieces of chicken, preferably inside a large plastic bag. Place in the fridge for several hours.

Heat the grill and remove the chicken from the marinade. Pat it dry, and if you like it to be a bit more salty, season each piece lightly with additional salt (we do like that).

Grill on both sides until done, in our grill it takes a total of 16 minutes, 8 minutes per side.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: We cook boneless chicken thighs all the time, I like to use a yogurt-based marinade, and smoked paprika is almost always part of it. There’s something about its flavor when you grill the meat that I find irresistible. This marinade is considerably brighter, so to speak. More intensely flavored. For this meal, I paired the juicy chicken thighs with air-fried cauliflower, and snow peas sauteed with lemon plus a touch of soy sauce. Apparently, I can never had too much lemon around. Excellent dinner! And, pretty light too.

ONE YEAR AGO: Springerle Cookies

TWO YEARS AGO: Chickpeas and Zucchini with Tahini Sauce

THREE YEAR AGO: Mokonut’s Rye Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

FOUR YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple Times Four

FIVE YEARS AGO: Going naked, and my husband loved it

SIX YEARS AGO: Cream Cheese Mini-Pancakes with Smoked Salmon

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Star-Shaped Chocolate Brioche Bread

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Blueberry-Banana Bread

NINE YEARS AGO: Into the Light Again

TEN YEARS AGO: Five Grain Sourdough Bread

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: The Nano-Kitchen

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Kaiser Rolls

24Dec2019

APRICOT AND BALSAMIC GLAZED CHICKEN THIGHS

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

Simple to the limit. Very tasty. If you have a pressure cooker or the famous InstantPot, you can have this main dish at your table any night of the week. I got the idea for it from a delicious shredded chicken I made also under pressure. For this one, I changed the flavors and reduced the cooking time so that the pieces of chicken would still hold together. Probably excellent with orange marmalade instead of apricot jam. Hey, go wild and try mango jam, if you have it around.

APRICOT AND BALSAMIC GLAZED CHICKEN THIGHS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

¼ cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme (or 2 to 3 tsp fresh)

In a small bowl, whisk the jam and vinegar together until very smooth. Depending on how thick your jam is, add a small amount of warm water to help loosening the mixture a bit. Reserve.

Heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker set over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, then brown on both sides (do it in batches if needed). Return all the pieces to the pot.

Pour the jam-vinegar mixture over the meat; add the thyme. Add some water to bring the liquid about 1/3 of the heigh of the chicken pieces. Lock the lid onto the pressure cooker and bring it to full pressure. Cook for 15 minutes. Release pressure manually, if needed reduce the liquid by simmering for a few minutes.

Adjust seasoning and serve with your side dish of choice.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

We enjoyed it with our favorite rice of the moment, easy Tahdig-Rice, which I blogged about in my latest Incredibly Simple series. Some sauteed asparagus rounded our meal pretty nicely. If you like a bit more spice, add a touch of Harissa or Sriracha to the jam mixture. I intend to try that next time.

ONE YEAR AGO: Dominique Ansel’s Chocolate Mousse Cake

TWO YEARS AGO: Merry Christmas!

THREE YEARS AGO: Festive Lemon Cranberry-Glazed Cake

FOUR YEARS AGO: Have a Cran-Merry Christmas!

FIVE YEARS AGO: Merry Christmas!

SIX YEARS AGO: The Avocado Mousse that Stole the Show

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Sourdough Popovers

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Merry Christmas!

NINE YEARS AGO: Sourdough Focaccia, with a twist

TEN YEARS AGO: Merry Christmas!

8Jul2010

A STICKY SITUATION

Posted in Poultry by sallybr

That is, sticky as in yummy! Here’s yet another recipe from Fine Cooking that regularly returns to the Bewitching Kitchen. Thighs are not the favorite piece of chicken for most Americans, but they rank high in my book because they’re always flavorful and tender. Plus, any recipe by Joanne Weir gets my attention, and this one is a winner: simple to prepare and packed with sticky, gooey goodness. Steam some white rice to go with it, and you’re all set!

SWEET AND SPICY STICKY CHICKEN
(from Joanne Weir, published in Fine Cooking, Nov 2001)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/3 cup water
3 Tbs. rice-wine vinegar
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbs. peanut or vegetable oil
3 scallions thinly sliced
8 chicken thighs, fat and skin removed (bone in or boneless)
Cilantro sprigs for garnish

In a bowl, whisk the brown sugar, fish sauce, water, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the scallions and cook until soft, about 3 min. Add the thighs and the brown sugar mixture. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. As soon as it does, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, turning the thighs occasionally, for 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove the thighs from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm. Increase the heat to high and reduce the sauce until it slightly thickens and resembles a bubbling caramel sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken on a serving platter, add cilantro sprigs to decorate, and serve with white rice.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Our grocery store always has organic, boneless chicken thighs for sale at great prices because not many people buy them, so I usually pick up a package once a week. When I’m in a huge hurry for dinner (say, on Tuesday evenings…) I opt for grilling (expect my favorite recipe soon!). But if dinner is proceeding at a more relaxed pace, then this recipe is just what the doctor ordered.

If you’re new to fish sauce, that powerfully smelling liquid sold in large bottles, don’t be afraid to bring some home – just don’t break the bottle in your car (it didn’t happen to me, but I read a sad tale about it years ago, and still live in fear of it). Just like Worcestershire sauce in Caesar dressing, fish sauce gives complexity to many marinades and sauces. Some say it makes the best hamburger in the world, but unfortunately my beloved husband doesn’t agree … 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: THE GARDEN