Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Almonds

Braising is a technique that I've really become quite fond. I've used it on short ribs and whole chicken. Since The Mister and I are dark meat fans, I thought I'd try a braised chicken dish with just dark meat. Anne Burrell's recipe for Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Almonds sounded perfect since we love mushrooms (you can find the recipe here). When I first read the recipe, it was a little confusing to me as to how long it would take to make since I wasn't sure if the total prep time (40 min) included the "inactive" prep time (35 min). I don't really know what is meant by inactive prep time. I thought maybe it was watching the chicken cook while sipping on some white wine, or not. In the end, it took about 2.5 hours, which includes all prep time and cooking time (with a few sips of wine thrown in!).

I only had 6 chicken thighs for the recipe and used the following assortment of mushrooms (starting from upper right): Shiitake, Oyster, Button, Portabella, and Cremini also known as brown mushrooms (center).


Here's what the thighs looked like after searing (searing took about 6 minutes on each side). The skin is very crispy with most of the fat rendered out.

I used about 2 lbs of mushrooms like the recipe calls for but it was a bit more than what the dish needs. That is unless you like a little chicken with your mushroom dish. I'd say you can get away with 1 - 1 1/2 lbs of mushrooms.

After cooking down the onions, mushrooms, and garlic, it was time for the wine. I used the whole 2 cups of wine but think I'll reduce that to 1 1/2 cups of wine the next time since I like a little more milder wine flavor. Once the liquid has been reduced by half, I added about 3 cups of broth to just cover the thighs. Here's what it looks like right before simmering for 30-35 minutes.

I decided to make more garlic mashed potatoes since my Yukon Golds were getting a bit old. And I thought the sauce from the chicken would go really well with mashed potatoes.

Here's another shot of the final dish plated. A large scoop of garlic mashed potatoes, layered with 2 braised chicken thighs, some sauce and lots of mushrooms.

It was a very tasty and hearty dish. The almond puree added a lot of flavor and pop to the sauce although I had an "ah-ha" moment when I added it. Wonder if I could substitute it with almond paste or almond butter? Might try that next time to save time on blanching the almonds (I had to blanched my own almonds because I couldn't find any when I went to the store, a bit time consuming). Definitely a dish I'll make again and with some minor adjustments on wine and salt, it could be outstanding.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Now go and eat well.