Cook Like a Rock Star - Anne Burrell [51]
MISE EN PLACE
Extra virgin olive oil
8 chicken thighs
Kosher salt
2 onions, cut into ¼-inch dice
Pinch of crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
2 pounds assorted mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, or cremini are all great), trimmed, cleaned, and sliced
1 cup dry white wine
4 to 6 cups chicken stock
1 thyme bundle, tied with butcher’s twine
2 bay leaves
½ cup whole blanched almonds, toasted
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish
1 Coat a large, wide, straight-sided pan with olive oil and bring to high heat. Season the chicken generously with salt and add it, skin side down, to the pan—you should hear a big sizzle. If you don’t, remove the chicken and wait. When you put chicken in a hot pan, the first thing it wants to do is stick there and the first thing you want to do is move it. Resist the urge. It will unstick itself when it’s ready. When the skin is brown and crispy, 5 to 7 minutes, turn the chicken over and brown the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve.
2 Ditch the fat and lower the heat. Add another splash of olive oil to the pan and add the onions. Season with salt and red pepper and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until the onions are soft and aromatic; then add the garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
3 Add the mushrooms, season with salt, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until soft and aromatic. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.
4 Return the chicken to the pan, pour in enough stock to almost cover the chicken, and add the thyme bundle and bay leaves. Bring to a boil (BTB), reduce to a simmer (RTS), and cook for 30 minutes. Add a little more stock if the liquid level gets low.
5 While the chicken cooks, purée the almonds in a food processor. Once they are ground, drizzle in a little olive oil while the machine is running to make a loose paste. Season with salt and reserve.
6 When the chicken has simmered for 30 minutes, remove it from the pan and reserve; remove the bay leaves and thyme bundle and discard. Stir the almond purée into the sauce and taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Bring to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS) to thicken the sauce if needed. Serve the chicken draped with the sauce and garnished with chives.
Now that’s nutty and saucy!
Duck Breast with Dried Fruit & Vin Santo
SERVES: 4 • TIME: ABOUT 45 MINUTES
Duck is one of those dishes that can be intimidating because it seems fancy and elegant. But there’s nothing to be scared of—making great duck just takes patience. To get a really beautiful, crackling, brown piece of skin you have to take your time and render the fat SLOWLY. If you rush it, you’ll end up with crispy skin but a thick layer of fat between the skin and the meat—which is totally icky. Taking your time to render the fat will not only make your duck absolutely delicious, but it will also leave you with a treasure trove of duck fat—an ingredient that in restaurant kitchens is considered liquid gold and makes killer Crispy Crunchy Duck Fat Potatoes.
I think that duck lends itself to sweet flavors, so in this dish I use a sweet Tuscan wine—Vin Santo—to reconstitute dried fruit to make a chutney-like sauce with rich chicken stock. Together the rich, meaty, succulent duck and the intense, fruity sauce make this dish perfect for a holiday, a special occasion, or even a Tuesday.
MISE EN PLACE
½ cup dried apricots, cut into quarters
½ cup dried apples, cut into ½-inch chunks
½ cup dried cherries
1 cup Vin Santo
4 small or 2 large duck breasts
Kosher salt
Extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
Leaves from 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 In a small bowl, soak the apricots, apples, and cherries in the Vin Santo.
2 Using a knife, cut or score the fat of