Matty and I always joke that we "suck at eating". We go out for a fancy dinner, and three bites into my entree I am declaring that I am full. We order an app, suddenly neither of us want dinner. Hell, I even have two beers and consider that a nutritious and filling meal (especially if it's blueberry beer. Antioxidants!).
I suppose, in a world of Fatty McFatFats and insane portions of food everywhere, it is a good thing that we both know our limits. However, it does mean that sometimes, we'll both get home around 7PM after a long day at work, and neither of us will be hungry for dinner. So...we play video games, or hang out with the dog, or whatever... and then, suddenly I'm cooking dinner at, like, 10:30PM.
This was one such meal.
But-- holy shit. Was this worth the wait.
I grabbed this recipe for braised chicken thighs and legs from the Food Network's site. I've never attempted a recipe from Alex Guarnaschelli before, but she does intimidate the absolute crap out of me through my television every time she judges on Chopped, so I assumed this would be good.
- 4 Tbs vegetable oil
- 5-6 chicken legs
- Sea salt
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 large white onion, sliced thin
- 4-5 garlic cloves, minced (or if you must use jarred like I did-- 2 or so Tbs of minced garlic)
- 1 3-4" piece of ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 28 oz can of ground, peeled tomatoes
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 bay leaves
- Water as needed
- First, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat
- Season the chicken legs with salt on both sides
- Once the oil is hot, drop the chicken into the pan. Do not overcrowd it. Or touch the chicken. Or do, like, anything for about 3 to 4 minutes
- Flip the chicken to brown on the other side, another 3-4 minutes
- Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
- Turn heat to medium-high. Toss in cumin and crushed red pepper to toast for about 15 seconds
- Toss in garlic, ginger and onion, season with salt, and stir to combine
- Add in tomatoes, cinnamon and the bay leaves. Allow to come together for 5-10 minutes
- Add the chicken back to the pan, cover legs with tomato mixture.
- Turn heat to medium-ish (the tomatoes should be simmering), cover pan and allow chicken to cook in tomato sauce for 30-40 minutes, until chicken is super-tender and cooked through.
- Add water accordingly should the sauce become too thick, a half-cup or so at a time.
- While chicken is cooking, prepare brown (or basmati..or whatever you want, really!) rice to package directions.
- Serve chicken over rice with ample tomato sauce
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