I’ve just eaten one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever put in my mouth. It’s old French peasant fare: simple and extraordinarily tasty. It’s so good that the late Paul Bocuse had a version of it in one of his Michelin starred restaurants.
The only thing wrong with my first try at the recipe is that it didn’t make enough sauce. Here’s the thing. If you have leftovers, some of the sauce is always wasted in storage, and you’re likely to end up without enough. So my version of the recipe doubles the sauce — you don’t want your family or guests to need more and not have it — or not to enough for a leftover piece of chicken.
Chicken with Vinegar Sauce
I’ve just eaten one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever put in my mouth. It’s old French peasant fare: simple and extraordinarily tasty. It’s so good that the late Paul Bocuse had a version of it in one of his Michelin starred restaurants.
- 4 chicken thighs, (with bone and skin)
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2/3 cup shallots, (finely chopped)
- 3/4 cup wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar; you can also use red wine vinegar)
- 1- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp. butter (optional)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- Prep ingredients: finely chop shallots, pat chicken dry and then season with salt and pepper.
- Preheat oven to 450°.
- Choose either a Dutch oven or high-sided skillet that can go into the oven. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Put chicken pieces in, skin-side down and cook for 5 minutes without touching. Turn chicken, and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Then put the Dutch oven (or skillet) with the chicken into the oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes (mine was fine at 18 min. — chicken should be completely cooked when it comes out).
- Remove chicken from oven, and transfer chicken pieces to an oven-safe dish. Turn oven off, put chicken back into oven with the oven door cracked.
- Pour off most, but not all of the chicken juices (with the skin on, a lot of this will be fat. Leave enough to cook the shallots).
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Put Dutch oven (or skillet) onto the stove over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook for 2 minutes. Add vinegar, and cook for 5 minutes — until the strongest vinegar fumes subside slightly. Add chicken broth, and cook for an additional 8 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by half. Salt and pepper to taste.
Swirl in butter and stir until melted. If you have to hold the dish for awhile before serving, wait to swirl in butter just before you are ready to serve.
- Take chicken from oven, place pieces into Dutch oven, and pour any juices from the chicken (that came from the oven-safe dish you held them in the oven — because this really will be chicken juice) into the pot or skillet.
- Two thoughts on this final step before serving: You could 1) turn the chicken completely over in the sauce once, and serve immediately OR — 2) not turn the chicken over, just let the bottom rest in the liquid for a minute to soak up some flavor, but keeping the top skin more crisp.
- Either way — don’t put the chicken into the liquid until you are almost ready to serve — if it sits, you’ll make the chicken skin soggy.
Variations: Go with skinless chicken if you’re watching calories — if you do this, you’ll need to shorten the cooking time. Use red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or rice wine vinegar. Add an herb, like tarragon or thyme.
I served this with mashed potatoes and a simple green salad, along with a Pinot Noir wine.
This dish was easy to make, and SO very good, that I know it will become a regular at my house.
Happy cooking!
— Ann
Other thoughts: French vinegar is, in general, 2% lower in acidity than American vinegar. I’ve adjusted the recipe using chicken broth to take that acid down a notch. It may be a place to make adjustments based on your own taste preferences.
Would love to try this at home. Thank you for sharing.
Sounds delicious. Louise
It is — and just as important — easy!