Anne's Braised Chicken Thighs

From Anne Burrell - chicken thighs braised with mushrooms, onions, and almond puree added to the sauce. It's a richly flavored dish, and I did make a few adjustments. I also used skinless, boneless chicken thighs for this recipe, and they worked fine. She served this over green beans, I chose steamed white rice, and pasta would work, too.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 8  chicken thighs
• 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄4 lb pancetta, diced
• 2  onions, julienned
• 1⁄4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4  garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1⁄2 lbs mushrooms, assorted (shitake, oyster, cremini)
• 1 1⁄2 cups dry white wine
• 3 -4  cups  chicken stock (low or no salt)
• 1  bunch fresh thyme
• 4  bay leaves
• 1⁄2 cup  almonds, toasted

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large, deep pan over medium high heat.
2. Pat chicken skin dry, lightly season with salt and pepper, and add to pan - skin side down.
3. When the skin in brown, turn the chicken over and brown the other side. About 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan.
4. Drain excess oil, lower heat to medium, add pancetta and brown.
5. Add onions, lightly season with salt, crushed red pepper, and cook 8 minutes.
6. Add garlic and cook for a minute, then add mushrooms, lightly season with salt, and cook for about 5 minutes.
7. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half.
8. Return the chicken to the pan, and add enough chicken stock to almost cover the chicken, and the bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer and cook about 30-35 minutes. (add more chicken stock or water, if needed.).
9. While the chickenis cooking, puree the almonds in a food processor. Drizzle in a little oil while machine is running to make a loose paste.
10. Once the chicken has cooked, remove from pan. Stir in the almond puree, bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. I added a spoonfulf of flour (mixed with a little water to make a slurry) to thicken the sauce, and cooked another 5 - 10 minutes.
11. Spoon sauce over the chicken.