A top tier meal that people won't believe came from your humble kitchen.
What is demi-glace?
It is a sauce common in traditional French cuisine made by reducing veal stock over a long period of time (several hours) to a very concentrated, almost syrupy, consistency. It's a jumping off point for many other sauces. Veal stock can be pretty hard to come by and when you do find the bones to make it yourself, it's expensive. The sauce that's featured in this recipe isn't "real" demi-glace - it's a cheat. Demi-glace traditionally is cook with veal stock, which I can't get very easily where I live and I know a lot of you can't access it readily either (again, it's expensive as shit). Essentially, what's happening when you cook veal bones in water over a heat source is that the collagen in the bones breaks down and goes into the water. Collagen is gelatinous, which means that sauces made with veal stock will thicken nicely and will have a silky mouthfeel.
So what's my veal stock hack?
Gelatine. "Like the stuff you use when baking?" Yup. I use the Knox brand. That's what I'm able to get at the grocery stores near me. Gelatine is collagen from pork bones. If you are Kosher or Halal, should be able to use an appropriate substitution that suites your culture 1:1. If you are vegan, I imagine agar agar would work, but I haven't tried it myself. Let me know if you do!
. . .
INGREDIENTS
For the chicken:
4 large chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Avocado oil.
For the demi-glace:
about 7 (100 g) bella mushrooms, sliced
about 1 tablespoon 10 g tomato paste
about 1 (50 g) shallot
3 cloves 10 g garlic
about 1 c (250 g) red wine
about 1/3 c (100g) chicken stock
1/8 c (25 g) worcestershire sauce
2 packs (14 g) powdered gelatine
Combine salt and pepper in a small dish, set aside. Pat chicken dry. Cover with salt and pepper on both sides and under the skin. Set aside for 25-60 minutes on the counter uncovered.
Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for demi-glace in a bowl except mushrooms and tomato paste. Whisk and set aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat an oven-safe fry pan to medium-high heat. Pat chicken dry again. When pan is hot, add oil to pan and place chicken skin side down, making sure to press each one into the pan for a few seconds to ensure that skin keeps contact with the surface of the pan before adding the next chicken. Cook without moving for about 7 minutes or until the skin is very crispy and most of the chicken is white. The internal temperature should read about 110-120. Flip chicken to skin side up. Place pan in middle rack of oven for about 7 minutes or until the internal chicken temperature has come to 160 degrees F. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.
Put plan back on medium heat stove. Dab all but about 2 tbsp oil out of the pan. Add mushrooms to the pan with a sprinkle of salt. Let cook until soft and caramelized. Add tomato paste and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the rest of the demi-glace ingredients in bowl to the pan. Bring to a boil and stir, making sure to scrape up the fond (the brown bits on the bottom of the pan) from the pan. Cook until reduced by about half. Serve with chicken. Enjoy!
Prep time = 30 min - 2 days | Cook time = 30 minutes | Serves 4
Tips:
You can play around with the wine for this recipe. One time, I didn't have enough red, so I used red and white and it was delicious, although probably controversial to some. I have not used it, but I have heard that marsala is a great pick here due to its earthiness.
You can also try adding a spring of thyme, oregano, rosemary, or a bay leaf when cooking the demi-glace.
When prepping the chicken, make sure that you don't leave it out raw on the counter for more than 2 hours, as per USDA guidelines.
Related to the last point, you can prep the chicken ahead of time and give it more time for the skin to dry out for ultimate crispiness by putting it in the fridge uncovered and skin side up for up to 3 days. For the sauce, combine the demi-glace ingredients, minus the gelatine, tomato paste, and mushrooms in a bowl so it's ready to pour.
Serving suggestions: Potatoes!!
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