Cooking with Blobby

Ahhhhh......colder weather.  Hotter dishes. And while I love to grill - mostly it doesn't make a mess of the kitchen - there are some dishes that just sound more comforting made inside. 

We don't eat a lot of red meat, but you've probably picked up on that since many of my things here are pasta or chicken based. I even went to pick up steaks this summer to grill and put them back, mostly due to the exorbitant cost. Sorry cattle ranchers who voted for BLOTUS........you made your deal with the devil. 

All that said, I love Steak au Poivre. 

Mind you, I can count on one hand how many times I've had it, but it's kind of really really great. 

A week or two ago, the NYT pushed a recipe my direction which they posted maybe a year ago: Chicken au Poivre. 

Hmmmmmm.  I mean, why not. 710 also got the notification and also forwarded it my way. How could I not try it?? As we got our first snow fall (grrrrrrrr), it seemed like a dish to try that would be warm and hopefully hearty. 

Ingredients 

Yield: 4 servings 

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds) 

Salt 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 

2 tablespoons minced shallot 

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth 

½ cup heavy cream 

3 thyme sprigs 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, plus more for garnishing 

Crusty bread or egg noodles (optional), for serving 

Preparation 

Step 1 Place peppercorns in a small resealable bag. Using a mallet or the bottom of a saucepan, gently crush the peppercorns until coarsely cracked. (Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle.) Set aside. 

Step 2 In a 12-inch cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat oil over medium. Season chicken with salt. In two batches, sear chicken until light golden all over, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate. Pour off any remaining oil in the skillet. 

Step 3 Add butter and shallot to the skillet and cook, stirring, until butter is melted and shallot is softened, 1 minute. Add broth, heavy cream, thyme sprigs and cracked peppercorns and mix well, stirring to lift up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. 

Step 4 Add chicken (and any accumulated juices), bring to a simmer and cook, turning and basting occasionally with the sauce, until cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 6 to 8 minutes. 

Step 5 Divide chicken among 4 serving plates and discard thyme. 

Step 6 Add lemon juice to the skillet and stir until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and stir in parsley. 

Step 7 Spoon the sauce over the chicken and garnish with more parsley. Serve with crusty bread or egg noodles, if desired.

Everything is there to make it great, but it was just good. I get I have high expectations. This is the second time in recent weeks I've worked with peppercorns only to be let down a bit. I do expect more of a punch. 

While I salted the chicken, the water for the egg noodles and the sauce, it still needed salt after it was served. That helped a lot. And I suppose my doc is glad I added some. 

The recipe did not call of corn starch or anything, but the sauce never quite thickened up even a little. I think if it stuck more to the chicken it would have worked better. 

I'd do this again, but might use more salt - or use salted butter and not use low-sodium chicken stock? And I'd thicken the sauce more.