There were a bunch of contenders for what to make with the chicken thighs I picked up the other day. This chicken provençal recipe wasn't one of the ones that initially caught my eye. But I already had the October/November 2019 Cook's Country out for the pork chops and I decided that I wanted to pick another recipe out of the same issue to make next. And, once I actually took a closer look at it, the recipe started to hold more appeal: it includes lots of flavours I like (anchovies, tomatoes, olives, etc), doesn't generate too many dirty dishes, and doesn't take too long to prepare.

We had our chicken over a bit of rice with some left over tebouleh on the side. It was good like that, but I think it would've been even better with potatoes (either baked or mashed) and a spinach salad to go with it. But we were working with what we had (and what we had the energy to prepare), so that's how the meal ended up. Just making a note in case I'm ever planning a similar meal again.

Chicken Provençal

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2019

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in chicken thighs¹
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground, divided
• 1/2 c. flour
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-3 shallots (or 1 red onion), halved and sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 3/4 tsp. dried thyme)
• 2 oil-packed anchovies²
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 340g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 c. pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 c. dry white wine³
• 1/2 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and 1/4 tsp. of the pepper.
3. Place flour in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken, coating thoroughly. Reserve 1 tsp. of the dredging flour. (More if you're increasing the sauce ingredients.)
4. Heat a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the oil.
5. Add the chicken and cook for ~3 minutes on each side.
6. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
7. Reduce heat to medium and add the shallots to the skillet. Cook for 2-4 minutes.
8. Add garlic, thyme, anchovies, pepper flakes, and reserved flour and cook for a minute or so.
9. Add tomatoes, olives, wine, and remaining 1/4 tsp. of pepper and deglaze the pan.
10. Return chicken to pan, skin-side-up, and bring to a boil.
11. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, at 200°C (400°F) until chicken is done (~25 minutes or until interior temperature reaches 80°C/175°F).
12. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

---

¹ The original recipe called for eight thighs, but we only had six. I really liked the chicken:sauce ratio that this gave us. I'd be seriously tempted to bump up the other ingredients in order to produce more sauce if making it with more than six thighs in the future. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for two anchovy fillets, but TF and I have found that we prefer using whole anchovies as they break down more easily, are cheaper per unit mass, and (at least in our opinion) are tastier too! ^Back
3 The folks at ATK said that after testing the recipe with both white wine and dry vermouth, they found that their tasters preferred the vermouth. I'm sure it would be lovely with vermouth, but that's not something we keep on hand. In fact, I don't think I've ever used vermouth in anything before. White wine, on the other hand, I use somewhat frequently and, thus, tend to keep a bottle in the pantry for occasional use. So, even though it was deemed sub-optimal, I chose to revert to the white wine option for the sauce. And, honestly, I can't really complain about the results. It was delicious! ^Back