The kids and I popped into the grocery store this week to grab milk and fruit and lucky for us, I found leg quarters on sale for $2.50 a pack. 5 lbs of chicken for $5. Too good to be true right? Turns out it wasn't, especially after I whipped up a delicious sauce of mustard aioli, white wine and cream. It was SO good. The chicken was so tender and the sauce was fantastic over a batch of Farro. The addition of mushrooms and red peppers added some extra veggies and richness that I highly recommend as well. Rich and creamy with tender chicken and a sauce worthy all on it's own, this was a great dinner. We served it with a simple Kale salad from our garden and next thing you know, I've got dinner for everyone for two nights and full tummies :)
Our fridge is still broken. I feel like a broken record at this point, it's been absolutely insane trying to get this thing fixed. We still have our Beer/Milk fridge accessible and thankfully our neighbors loaned us a mini fridge, but we've definitely been frequenting the grocery store more often.
I was hesitant to buy this cut of meat because they seem more comfort food than beautiful summer evening (in my mind), but figured a touch of mustard and some white wine in my sauce should lighten things up. I was definitely over-thinking it because everyone loved them and we had dinner for two nights! Not bad for $5 of meat.
Braising chicken is such an easy way to tenderize the chicken. Dark chicken meat will get extra juicy too if cooked well. Then the sauce...it was so good. White wine, butter, mustard and cream...I'm not sure you could go wrong with that!
To start, I rinsed and patted dry my chicken. I mixed up flour and my seasonings to coat my chicken with. Taking my rinsed and dry chicken, I added it to my flour mix and ensured the chicken were well coated in the flour mixture.
Next, I added olive oil and butter to my hot pan and started to brown my chicken. A few minutes on each side to get the skin nice and crispy so it holds up to the sauce was my goal.
Once all of the chicken was browned, it's time to cook up the vegetables and make the sauce.
Preheating my oven to 350° so that the chicken can finish cooking, I added in my garlic and shallots to my hot pan. Cook for about a minute then add in the mushrooms. Salt accordingly, and cook for about 5-6 minutes until the mushrooms begin to brown. Add in red peppers and cook for 3 or so more minutes to ensure the peppers have begun to soften and turn bright red.
From here, it's time to make the sauce. Adding in 1/4 cup of flour, mix it well and let it cook for about 2 minutes until the vegetables, flour and olive oil/butter mixture from the pan becomes a thick paste. Add in 2 tablespoons of brown mustard, whole grain mustard, or in my case, I used Trader Joe's Aioli Garlic Mustard Sauce (which I highly recommend)! From here, add in your wine, broth and cream. Mix well and let the sauce warm through and start to lightly bubble. It's important to ensure your heat is on low so you don't scald or separate your cream.
Add the chicken back into the dutch oven and nestle into the sauce. Cover and place into the oven for about 45 minutes, until the chicken registers at least 165°. Serve over rice, potatoes, farro, quinoa, or enjoy on its own. So good!!
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