back to the braise

Anyone who has read much of this blog already knows that I have a soft spot in my heart for one pot meals, low and slow cooking, and meltingly tender meat.  And that really kicks in for me on chilly, rainy days, which is exactly what we are having here today.  I wanted something a little different, that would be good served over rice, aromatic, and healthy.

I had some chicken thighs in the freezer, which adapt very well to braising (breast meat can very easily dry out if cooked too long), onions, mushrooms, garlic, and sweet red peppers in the fridge, and some canned San Marzano tomatoes in the pantry.  I love the flavor of tomatoes and garlic cooked together, but I didn't want the usual Italian flavors, so I settled on a middle eastern sort of flair, with cumin, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and grated ginger.

these are sweet red peppers I keep on hand regularly

I have never seen them anywhere but Costco,

but if you spy them, give them a try

One little kitchen tip that I have used for years is to buy a hand of ginger, use what I need, and toss the rest, whole, into the freezer in a plastic bag.  It will keep forever, and you don't have to thaw it out to grate it.  Just run the frozen ginger over a microplane grater, and you'll have a nice little pile of ginger snow.

Mise en place for the dish is fairly simple.

clockwise, starting in the upper left hand corner:

whole cumin and red pepper flakes, grated ginger,

sweeet red pepper, onion, tomatoes, mushrooms,

sliced garlic, cinnamon, and bay leaves

Season the chicken with salt, on both sides.  If you are using skinless thighs, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil over medium heat.  If the skin is still one the meat, just start it skin side down in a non stick pan over medium heat.  It will make it's own fat.

once the chicken is brown, remove it from the pan,

and add the spices to the fat for a quick toast

When you can smell the fragrance of the toasting spices, add in the onions, and sweat them until they begin to lose some of their moisture.

once the onion base is wilted, 

add in the mushrooms and peppers

Cook the vegetables for a few minutes, then add the garlic (jarred will work just fine) and ginger, cinnamon, and bay leaf.  Add in the canned tomatoes.  If you are using whole tomatoes, smash them up a bit with a wooden spoon.  Add the chicken back in and simmer the whole mixture until the chicken is cooked through.  About 30-40 minutes.  If the sauce gets too thick, just add a bit of water.

removing the skin would make this a very low fat meal,

but Jim loves the skin, so I leave it on

This is a very easy stove top recipe, redolent with ginger and spice, but it does take about an hour to complete.  I suspect that it would be an easy crockpot meal -- just dump all the ingredients in the crock pot, and set it on low, though I would recommend removing the chicken skin and fat from the thighs for that method.  At any rate, at the end of the work day, you'd have an aromatic, healthy, fragrant stew waiting for you.  Nothing to do but cook up a little rice, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy!

a simple braise, loaded with flavor