Crispy Chicken Thigh Fines Herbes
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 Belgian endive leaves separated and halved
- 1 small fennel bulb cored and thinly sliced (fronds reserved for herb mix and garnish)
- ¼ of a small sweet onion thinly sliced
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Fresh lemon juice to taste
- Olive oil to taste
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Chicken
- 4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil for drizzling
- 1 shallot finely minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup unsalted chicken broth
- ½ cup creme fraiche
- 1 Tbsp finely sliced chives
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped fennel fronds
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped tarragon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Being by prepping the salad. Place endive and fennel in a medium bowl. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
- Add thinly sliced onions to a small bowl of ice water to help crisp and reduce astringency. Set aside and let sit in ice water until ready to use.
- For the chicken, season thighs all over with coriander, salt and pepper.
- Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium heat and coat with olive oil. Add thighs skin side down.
- Let cook and render the skin until crispy and golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Adjust heat as needed.
- Flip chicken and transfer skillet to the oven to finish cooking. The thighs should reach between 180-185 F when checked with an instant-read thermometer.
- Transfer chicken thighs to a sheet pan with a wire rack (if you have it). Keep warm in a very low-temperature oven or by tenting with foil while you make the sauce, if desired.*
- Pour off some of the chicken fat from the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon of the drippings.
- Turn to medium heat and add in shallots. Cook until soft and translucent. Don't forget the pan was in the oven so the handle will be hot!
- Deglaze with white wine and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce wine by ¾. You almost want to reduce it all away.
- Add in chicken broth and reduce by ½.
- Turn heat to low and stir in creme fraiche. Let simmer and reduce until the sauce is slightly thick. You are looking for the sauce to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Be careful not to over reduce, as it will separate.**
- Turn off heat and stir in all the herbs. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Drain onions from the ice bath and add to the endive salad.
- Dress salad to taste with lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Serve chicken thighs with sauce, topped with the crunchy cold endive salad and more fennel fronds.
Video
Notes
*To me, I don’t sweat keeping the chicken super hot. I just leave it on top of the hot oven as I make the sauce. The sauce should only take 10 minutes tops, and the chicken is plenty warm especially when served with a hot sauce. I added the note about keeping in a warm oven for those who want super piping hot chicken 🙂
**If you do end up over-reducing your sauce, fear not! Add a splash or two more of chicken stock and it should come back together.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
I had to substitute some of the herbs, but this was absolutely incredible! Definitely plan on making it again soon!