White-wine braised chicken
Impress the family with this delicious yet simple dish. Use verjuice instead of wine, if you prefer.
Ingredients:
Chicken:
15ml olive oil
4 x chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2.5ml thyme leaves
125ml white wine
125ml cream
Wild rice salad:
100ml wild rice
100g curly kale
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
Dressing:
10ml olive oil
15ml lemon juice
5ml Dijon mustard
5ml honey
salt and pepper
Method:
Chicken:
● Preheat the oven to 180°C.
● Heat olive oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole dish over a high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
● Put the chicken pieces into the hot dish and brown. Once the skin has turned golden, remove the chicken from the dish and set aside.
● Turn the heat down to low, add the fennel, garlic and thyme, and cook slowly until soft. Scrape off any chicken bits that have stuck to the bottom – this adds flavour!
● Turn the heat back up to deglaze the pan with the white wine and allow it to cook down by half. Pour the cream in and bring to a simmer.
● Add the chicken and bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
Wild rice salad:
● Cook the wild rice according to package instructions. Once cooked, pop it into the fridge to cool.
● Trim the kale and discard the stems. Mix the rice, kale and fennel together into a bowl.
Dressing:
● In a separate bowl, make a dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and honey. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the wild rice salad and stir so it’s all combined. Season to taste.
Serve the chicken hot with the salad on the side.
