I’m excited for this week’s recipe of Bistro Braised Chicken Thighs coming from a friend who is passionate about her food. She loves checking out new restaurants, experiencing new food trends, and is an avid home cook – a true foodie in every sense of the word. Julie Wojciechowski is an East coast girl who hails from Connecticut and with whom I bonded immediately when she first moved to Charlotte. She is a lover of all things outdoors, is a serious yogi, and is my morning walking buddy.
During a recent walk we chatted about our excitement for the onset of cool weather foods when Julie mentioned how much she loves to use her le Creuset braiser for her favorite slow cooked food recipes. The term “braising” comes from the french word “braiser”, which is a combination cooking method using both wet and dry heats. Typically, a protein is first seared at a high temperature to brown and bring caramelization to the exterior (this gives flavor), and then it is finished in a heavy iron pot with a lid and allowed to cook at a very low temperature alongside a braising liquid. The result is a flavorful & tender, fall-off-the-bone dish.
Julie’s recipe is a light chicken dish which uses thighs, one of the tastiest parts of a chicken. It is braised with carrots, celery, and a secret sweet ingredient (dried plums), then seasoned with our Glory Kitchen Provence nut & spice mix, a mix of french herbs, chopped cashews, and dried currants.
And although this recipe will tell you to serve this tender chicken over cooked egg noodles, Julie actually made homemade spaetzle as the base for her braised chicken.
When she first told me we were going to make homemade spaetzle, I thought it sounded interesting but complicated. To my great surprise, however, the recipe included 4 simple ingredients: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, and a pinch of salt.
It literally took about 3 minutes to mix together with a fork, place the wet dough into her spaetzle maker, and boil the little pearl dumplings in a pot of hot water until they rose to the top, which meant the noodles were ready. Total time? No more than 3 minutes – and we had homemade spaetzle!
The tiny dumplings were delicious little puffs and took the dish from tasty to spectacular. I can hardly wait to get my spaetzle maker and do it all again on my very own. If you aren’t ambitious enough to attempt homemade spaetzle noodles, don’t let this hold you back – a dried egg noodle will work magic as well.
I hope you enjoy Julie’s delicious braised chicken dish.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes, browning on both sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.
Add remaining tablespoon butter to pan; swirl until butter melts. Add carrot, onion, celery, and dried plums; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften, stirring frequently. Stir in Provence Nut & Spice mix; cook 30 seconds. Stir in mustard. Add broth and 3/4 cup water, scraping pan to loosen browned bits; bring to a simmer.
Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 35 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, and simmer until sauce is reduced by half (about 10 minutes). Stir in salt and pepper. Serve over cooked noodles.
BISTRO BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS
I’m excited for this week’s recipe of Bistro Braised Chicken Thighs coming from a friend who is passionate about her food. She loves checking out new restaurants, experiencing new food trends, and is an avid home cook – a true foodie in every sense of the word. Julie Wojciechowski is an East coast girl who hails from Connecticut and with whom I bonded immediately when she first moved to Charlotte. She is a lover of all things outdoors, is a serious yogi, and is my morning walking buddy.
During a recent walk we chatted about our excitement for the onset of cool weather foods when Julie mentioned how much she loves to use her le Creuset braiser for her favorite slow cooked food recipes. The term “braising” comes from the french word “braiser”, which is a combination cooking method using both wet and dry heats. Typically, a protein is first seared at a high temperature to brown and bring caramelization to the exterior (this gives flavor), and then it is finished in a heavy iron pot with a lid and allowed to cook at a very low temperature alongside a braising liquid. The result is a flavorful & tender, fall-off-the-bone dish.
Julie’s recipe is a light chicken dish which uses thighs, one of the tastiest parts of a chicken. It is braised with carrots, celery, and a secret sweet ingredient (dried plums), then seasoned with our Glory Kitchen Provence nut & spice mix, a mix of french herbs, chopped cashews, and dried currants.
And although this recipe will tell you to serve this tender chicken over cooked egg noodles, Julie actually made homemade spaetzle as the base for her braised chicken.
When she first told me we were going to make homemade spaetzle, I thought it sounded interesting but complicated. To my great surprise, however, the recipe included 4 simple ingredients: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, and a pinch of salt.
It literally took about 3 minutes to mix together with a fork, place the wet dough into her spaetzle maker, and boil the little pearl dumplings in a pot of hot water until they rose to the top, which meant the noodles were ready. Total time? No more than 3 minutes – and we had homemade spaetzle!
The tiny dumplings were delicious little puffs and took the dish from tasty to spectacular. I can hardly wait to get my spaetzle maker and do it all again on my very own. If you aren’t ambitious enough to attempt homemade spaetzle noodles, don’t let this hold you back – a dried egg noodle will work magic as well.
I hope you enjoy Julie’s delicious braised chicken dish.
recipe by:
Julie Wojciechowski
Ingredients
Instructions