This versatile dish stands up to being served to guests or a constant on your weekday menu. Serve along side a starch that can sop up the delicious sauce (pictured, wild rice, parsley, mushroom salad, recipe below as well). Try this with thighs, breasts, legs...whatever you have in your fridge. I recommended boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Chicken with Leeks and Garlic
Serves 3-4
2 tsp grapeseed or olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 leek, white and light green parts only. Sliced lengthwise, sliced into 1 inch half moons
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 (or so) cups of white wine
1 small pat of cold butter (Let's say under a tablespoon, but no one's stopping you from adding more.)
2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
salt and white pepper, to taste
Prep the leeks:
If you don't know how to prep leeks for cooking, not to worry. It's super easy. First, cut off the root end and discard. Next, cut right where the light green starts to turn to dark, tough green. You don't want the tough, dark green part...rinse and save for stock. Leeks grow in sand and are pretty dirty when you get them at the market. So now you need to remove the sand. Easy! Cut down the white/light green stalk you've reserved lengthwise. Next, cut crosswise, into 1 inch half moons. Place your sliced leeks into a large bowl of cold water. Agitate. Let sit for a few minutes (15 or so). The sand will sink to the bottom and your clean leek will float to the top!
Season your chicken with salt and pepper. Preheat medium skillet (one that has a tight-fitting lid and is big enough to hold all of the chicken comfortably) on medium high heat. Add oil. When the oil is hot (shimmering, almost smoking), place your chicken in the pan. After 2-3 minutes, turn. Cook on the opposite side for another 203 minutes...until you get a nice brown sear. Set aside. Don't worry about cooking it all the way through, we'll finish them off later.
In the same pan add leeks, cook until soft, about 1 minute. Add garlic, keep it all moving for another minute...until everything is nice and fragrant. Add your chicken breast back on top of the leek mixture. Pour wine in to just about cover the chicken, but not quite. This will be your braising liquid. Bring to a boil, then tune it down to a low simmer. Put the lid on. You should be on low heat now. Walk away for 20 minutes (less time if you are using breasts...those tend to get too tough when you over cook them).
Remove just the chicken on to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm. Reduce the liquid by a third. Remove the skillet from the heat. Swirl in the cold butter. Add the parsley. Taste it! Season it! Spoon over chicken.
