Braised Chicken Thighs with Smoked Paprika
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- Coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, sliced on the bias into 1/2-inch rounds
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika (or pimenton)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, crumbled
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 (28-ounce) can peeled tomatoes with their juice
DIRECTIONS
- Trim excess fat from chicken thighs and season with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven or deep ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and cook until golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate. Cook remaining chicken and transfer to plate. Combine onions and carrots in pan. Add remaining salt and sauté about 6 minutes. Add garlic, bay leaves and sherry; cook 2 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add paprika, chili powder, oregano and cayenne and stir until vegetables are coated with spices.
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- Add tomatoes (using your fingers to break them up) and their juice and cook 2 minutes. Return chicken to pan; cover and bake 2 1/2 hours.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
This is a chilly Sunday evening comfort food dish. I used boneless chicken thighs which decreased the cooking time bit. Nevertheless, the chicken was falling apart when I removed it from my Dutch oven. Recipe suggests serving with white rice or corn tortillas. I thought it was fabulous on its own.