Chauncey Chicken

My on the fly chicken recipe that literally never disappoints. There are hardly any quantities in this recipe, sorry not sorry. Trust your heart and use as much or as little of anything as you please. If you’re wondering “can I substitute _____” the answer is yes. Almost everything in this recipe could be substituted with something similar! This is basically the loose scaffolding of a recipe upon which great dishes can be built. Give it a shot!

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs of the chicken cut of your choice (I use boneless skinless thighs or drumsticks)

• Seasonings of your choice

• Neutral oil

• Shallot(s) - thinly sliced or finely chopped

• Minced garlic cloves

• Dry Sherry

• Chicken Broth (low sodium is best)

• Thyme

• Cold Butter (temporarily frozen)

• Flour

Instructions

• Season your chicken with your seasonings of choice and drizzle with a neutral oil. Allow seasoned chicken to rest at room temperature while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

• Prepare the shallots and garlic

• Preheat a stainless steel pan on medium high heat for around 5 minutes. After preheating, add about 2 tablespoons of a neutral oil to the pan before adding the chicken. Don’t be afraid to overcrowd the pan, it will be cooking for a while anyway.

• Periodically check on the doneness of the chicken, continuing to adjust the temperature as necessary and taking care to flip the chicken once one side has browned.

  • Tip: If the chicken is getting browner faster than it can cook internally, stick it in the oven. I like to put the chicken on a separate baking sheet in the oven so that I can simultaneously build the sauce.

• Once the chicken has been removed from the pan, add the shallot and onion into the pan on medium heat. Cook until the shallots have caramelized a bit.

• Quickly raise the heat of the pan to high, and add the dry sherry to the pan. It should produce a lot of noise and steam as the alcohol rapidly evaporates.

  • Tip: The goal is to have around an inch of sherry on the bottom of the pan. If you add too much, allow the sherry to continue to evaporate over high heat until the desired level is reached.

• Lower the heat to medium and add the chicken stock and fresh thyme sprig(s)

  • Tip: From this point on, allow your tastebuds to be your guide! Make sure to taste your sauce after every addition moving forward. How is the salt level? If the liquid’s too salty at this point add water and continue cooking.

• Once the sauce has reached a satisfactory taste, turn the stove to high and add a cold knob of butter coated in flour to the pan. Whisk continually to emulsify and thicken the sauce.

  • Tip: If the sauce fails to thicken, mix a paste of equal parts butter and flour together and add to the pan on high heat, whisking continually until the desired viscosity.

• Add the chicken back to the pan and serve over rice. Enjoy!