Champagne Braised Chicken Thighs is such an easy fall recipe. It's pretty quick to make on a weeknight and roasts up beautifully in the oven with bacon, leeks and mushrooms in a deliciously savory wine sauce the whole family will love!
1large leekcut down the middle length-wise, sliced into half moons and well cleaned (soak it for 10 minutes, changing the water a few times until all the sand and dirt is out)
8oz.sliced mushrooms
2-3clovesof garlicsmashed
3-4sprigs of fresh thymelemon thyme is great if you have it!
¾cupchampagne or sparkling wineor 1 champagne split- you can also sub in white wine if you don''t have champagne.
1-2Tbsp.lemon juice
Fresh parsleychopped (optional garnish)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Fry 3 pieces of bacon in a deep oven-safe skillet over medium high until crisp and remove from pan and set aside.
Reduce the heat slightly (to somewhere between medium and medium high)and add the butter to the pan.
While the butter melts, season the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the chicken to the pan, skin side down.
Sear for 5-6 minutes or until the skin is golden brown (don't move it, you want to get a good sear).
Turn the chicken and sear the other side for 4 minutes and remove them from the pan.
Add the leeks, mushrooms garlic and sprigs of thyme to the pan and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
Saute for 3-4 minutes or until they've softened.
Add the chicken crumble the reserved bacon slices into the pan and sour the champagne and the lemon juice over the top.
Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden or plastic spoon to deglaze and transfer the pan to the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165.
Enjoy!
Notes
If you don't have an oven-safe pan that can be used on the stove as well, you can deglaze the pan once the veggies are softened and then place the chicken and bacon into the separate baking pan and pour the veggies and juices over it before transferring to the oven.
The juices and veggies taste great over rice.