Tuscan Style Chicken

Can be surved over rice or paste | I like egg noodles personally

Ingredients:

  • Bone in Skin on Chicken Thighs | 6 Peices
  • Heavly Cream | 1 Pint
  • Parmesan Cheese | ~1.5oz
  • Tomato | Any kind really, I prefer to use a handful of cherry tomatos
  • Yellow Onion | 1 Medium
  • Spinach | 2-3 Cups or 1 frozen block
  • Garlic | ~4 Cloves
    • Or ~4tsp of Jarlic (pre-minced garlic in a jar)
  • Oregano | 2tbs
  • Cremini Mushrooms | ~6 Peices
  • Black Pepper
  • Garlic Salt
  • Paprika

Steps:

  • Pre heat oven to 425°F
  • Put a thin player of olive oil into a cast iron pan (Or other Oven Safe Pan). On medium heat.
  • Pad the chicken thighs with a paper towel so they are dry and rub them down with garlic salt black pepper and paprika.
  • Once the pan is heated up place the chicken thighs skin side down for 5 min
  • Then put into the oven for 15 min. After that rotate the chicken to be skin side up and bake for another 15 min or until they reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F. When you probe the thigh near the bone red juice may flow out, this is due to the marrow in the thigh bone to reduce this probe along the bone when you flip the chicken so it has a route to escape from.
  • While the chicken is in the oven, dice up the onion and mince the garlic
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside (once the oven has cooled some you can put then back in to keep then warm)
  • Place the cast iron along with the olive oil and juices from the chicken baking process onto the stove at a medium heat.
  • Add the diced onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent and fragrant.
  • Add the diced tomato and cook until tender
  • Add the pint of heavy cream then oregano bring to a simmer.
  • Now add the shredded parmesan and stir into the sauce.
    • If the sauce seem thin, let it simmer for longer and stir it often being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent any burning
    • Adding the chicken back in this step will them back up, but you may lose the crispyness on the skin

P.S. The latest few times I made this, I acutally de-boned the chicken thighs and cubed it up after cooking. This had allowed for a better distribution of chicken across each serving as well as a better balanced chicken to sauce ratio.


Black Garlic Chicken

I like to have this dish served over rice with a savory veg, such as asparagus or brussel sprouts.

Ingredients:

  • Boneless skinless chicken thighs | ~2lbs
  • Garlic | 1 Bulbs worth
  • Black Garlic (I use the "Single head bulbs") | 3 Bulbs
  • Fresh Parsley | ~3tbs
  • Fresh Rosemary | 1 sprig
  • Olive oil | 3tbs
  • Chicken Boullion | 1 Cube
    • I like to use ~1 tsp of "Chicken Soup Base - Better than Boulion"
      (Not Sponsored)
  • White Wine (Get a cheap bottle, but not "cooking wine") | 1 Cup
    • Optional : 1 glass for the chef

Prep work:

  • Cut the chicken in to bite sized chunks or strips
    • Add a big pinch of salt to the chicken | Do not use fine/table salt as its easy to add too much
  • Peel and crush each clove in the bulb of garlic
  • Chop the parsley into fine pieces
  • Mash the black garlic into a paste

Cooking Steps:

  1. Add the Olive oil into a medium saucepan at medium heat.
  2. Brown the chicken in small batches, but do not cook all the way through. Remove and set aside.
  3. Add the garlic cloves and cook for ~3 minutes.
  4. Add the white wine, parsley, and rosemary.
  5. Bring to a simmer and add the black garlic paste. Stir until homogeneous.
  6. Remove the rosemary sprig and add the chicken.
  7. Cook until the sauce is reduced to a thick glaze.
  8. Enjoy

P.S. I have made this dish using tofu as well, for that I would reccomend making "crispy tofu cubes" and do sets 3-7 separately before tossing the tofu in the glaze.