Jeweler’s Chicken or Poulet Bijoutiere

From My Carolina Kitchen

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

5 garlic cloves, crushed

4 large shallots, peeled & quartered

¼ cup semi-sweet white wine, such an off dry German Riesling

¾ cup pomegranate juice

¼ cup low-sodium, low-fat chicken broth

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

3 tablespoons red currant jelly

Fresh pomegranate arils (seeds) for garnish

Remove as much excess fat from the chicken thighs as possible, leaving the skin on one side only. (I also removed the bottom piece of skin.) Season on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub the inside of a large, deep skillet or good size brazier with one of the garlic cloves, then discard the clove. Heat the oil in the pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown on all sides, about 10 to 15 minutes. The chicken will cook further in the recipe. Reduce the heat to medium if the chicken browns too quickly. Do not crowd the pan or the chicken will steam, so you may want to brown it in batches. When the chicken is browned, transfer to a platter and set aside. Drain off all but a sheet of the fat from the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining garlic and the shallots. Cook, stirring, until the garlic and shallots are soft and beginning to brown lightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Take care not the let the garlic burn.

Add the wine to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon or whisk to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and boil briefly until reduced by half. Add the chicken thighs back to the pan along with pomegranate juice, chicken broth, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, turning the chicken now and then so both sides of the chicken become colored by the juice.

Discard the fresh thyme springs and stir in the red currant jelly. Continue to cook at an active simmer until the internal temperature of the chicken registers 180 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 to 17 minutes, shifting the chicken and stirring the sauce occasionally. If the sauce becomes overly thick before the chicken is done, stir in a tablespoon or so of water into the sauce. The sauce should be the consistency of a spoonable glaze.

Arrange two thighs on each of four dinner plates and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Garnish each portion with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and serve with hot cooked rice and a green vegetable, such as green beans.

Adapted from The Bonne Femme Cookbook by Wini Moranville – serves 4