Braised Chicken with Baby Vegetables and Peas

Someone must have ticked off Mother Nature something fierce. The weather in NJ has been so crazy I don't think I'll be putting my winter clothes away until June. They say it's spring, but I don't consider the 50's very springy.


Today's recipe is perfect for one of those chilly "spring" days. It's hearty, filling and the best part ever it's fairly healthy. I found this recipe in Cooking Light Cooking Through the Seasons: An Everyday Guide to Enjoying the Freshest Food. I changed a few things from the original recipe - I subsitiuted baby potatoes for baby turnips, added mushrooms, used frozen peas instead of fresh and used leg quarters instead of a whole chicken cut-up.

We also had some friends over for dinner. (Shout out to Ian and Shannan!) They both enjoyed today's dish, which is a big complement to me because Shannan is a great cook also. One of the pluses of having Ian and Shannan over is that Ian is a professional photographer - check out his site here.- and he was nice enough to take a picture of today's dinner.

Enjoy!

Braised Chicken with Baby Vegetables and Peas
Adapted from Cooking Light Cooking Through the Seasons: An Everyday Guide to Enjoying the Freshest Food


2 Tbs butter, divided
4 Chicken leg quarters, separated and skinned
Salt
Pepper
2 (14.5 oz) cans Chicken broth, Low Sodium
1 cup Dry White wine
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
15 baby potatoes
15 baby carrots
15 pearl onions, peeled
8 oz large mushrooms, quartered
1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
2 Tbs all purpose flour
3/4 Cup frozen green peas, defrosted

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; sauté 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from pan.


 Add broth to pan; cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add wine and next 7 ingredients (through bay leaves); stir. Add chicken to pan, nestling into vegetable mixture; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Discard bay leaves. Remove chicken and vegetables from the pan.


Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure. Pour cooking liquid into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain drippings back into pan, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Return liquid to pan. Bring liquid to a boil; cook until reduced to 1 1/2 cups (about 5 minutes).


Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Add flour mixture to cooking liquid; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Return chicken and vegetable mixture to pan; stir in peas. Cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Garnish with chopped parsley.