One Pot Chicken Thighs & Rice

How we make it.

4 chicken thighs
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 shallot, minced
1 cup spinach, minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup Jasmine rice
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1 cup chicken stock
4-5 lemon slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chicken thighs with cumin, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add olive oil to a heavy bottomed braiser or dutch oven, any big pot with a lid. Place chicken thighs skin side down into the cold pot then turn heat on medium-low. Let chicken thighs slowly brown, rendering their fat for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, mince (chop very small) shallot, garlic and spinach. Rinse and dry rice by placing a cup of rice into a sieve and running cold water through it then setting aside to dry. This removes extra starch and makes rice less gummy when cooked.

Once chicken is browned and crisp, remove from pan and set aside. Add shallots to the fat in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add spinach and garlic, cooking for 1-2 minutes. Add rice, stirring around to coat with fat in the pan and combine with vegetables. Pour in vermouth and scrape up any brown bits in the pan. Add chicken stock and 1 teaspoon of salt, stirring to combine. Add chicken thighs and lemon slices on top of the rice. Cover the pan with the lid and place in the oven to cook for 35 minutes. 

Why we make it.

I have been trying to make dinner in one pot for 12 years, but it has always ended up wet. I don't know what that's about. My husband hates a wet dinner. Who doesn't!? He will kindly look up at me from his end of the table with every failed attempt to say, "It's good Dorse, but it's a little wet." Damn it all. It has taken me too long to realize that the solution to a wet one pot meal is rice. Any liquid gets soaked up in those gorgeous granules. This one pot chicken and rice is insanely delicious. It's easy to make, easy to clean up and easy to enjoy. Imagine yourself placing this pan in the center of a table of loved ones with a large spoon to serve family style. You'll be the star of the world's most satisfying supper. A bed of tender jasmine rice full of salty chicken flavor, flecked with chopped spinach and perfumed with garlic, lemon and spices. You won't want to put your rice in a sauce pan ever again. I've never had such tender thighs either, I'll tell you that. These thighs give Cousin Mike's dry rubbed dark quarters a run for their money. And that's a good thing because grilling season is winding down, but I still need my thighs. That's why we'll make it.