Chicken with Shallot, Red Wine Vingar, and Tomato
For seven years now, this dish has been one of my favorite tastes-more-complicated-than-effort-required type of dishes to whip out for any occasion. I’ve mentioned it multiple times in posts on my now defunct old blog but never really wrote it down even though I always meant to.
I wish that Paula Wolfert gave this dish a catchier name. I mean… it is very descriptive? But it’s such a mouthful and I can never remember it. I even wrote it incorrectly a couple of times while titling this post. And it certainly deserves a catchier name than “that Paula Wolfert chicken dish I like.” I like lots of her stuff so it gets confusing sometimes.
It feels like a bit of a hassle to make because it calls for a lot of good red wine vinegar, transferring the chicken a bunch of times, and uses some ingredients I don’t consider pantry staples. But those are small inconveniences that reward big bold addicting flavors.
Paula Wolfert’s Chicken with big flavor but a boring name
Reduce in a small non-reactive saucepan until the volume is 3/4 cup:
3/4 cup + 2T red wine vinegar (high quality preferred)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp tomato paste or 1/4 cup thick tomato sauce
(Normally, I just measure the red wine vinegar first into a pot first and sort of eyeball and remember the level of the pot and reduce it back to that amount)
Over medium heat, sear in butter, skin-side down until brown:
3.5lbs chicken thighs, seasoned with salt and pepper
Remove chicken from pan, along with most of the fat that’s rendered, then add:
3/4 cup shallots, thinly siced
2 Tbsp garlic, chopped
Cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat to sweat the aromatics without browning them.
Add to the pan:
sauce from step (1)
3/4 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper
browned chicken from step (2), skin side up this time
Braise for about 20 minutes to fully cook the chicken.
Remove the chicken from the pot again, and finish the sauce:
Add 2 Tbsp creme craiche.
Simmer sauce for like 2 more minutes, or until thick and velvety.
Remove from heat, and stir in 3 Tbsp chopped tarragon.
Serve by mixing chicken and sauce together, or plating and drizzling over.
Notes
A better quality vinegar is definitely worth it, but it uses quite a bit and could get expensive. I usually use a cheaper grocery store red wine vin and it’s still a delicious dish.
A better chicken stock would be nice but I usually use box or more recently bouillon paste + water. Bone-in chicken is more important, since it will impart richness and flavor during the braising process. Thighs will definitely work better but drums are okay in a pinch even though you can’t really sear a round surface.
The tarragon and creme fraiche really complete the dish. You can sub creme fraiche for sour cream with ok results, but it is not quite the same. Yogurt makes the sauce a little too grainy and broken and I would not recommend. Tarragon adds the final aromatic layer on top and I feel like the dish is missing something without it. Dill might work? But it’s not as floral and sweet as tarragon.
As a variation, I nestle in some potatoes around the edges and add a little extra water. Keep everything covered so it all has a chance to cook. The potatoes get kind of cured and dense and super flavorful, and the starch helps thicken the sauce for an even richer texture. It also saves me from having to make an extra side.