Claire Robinson’s Beer Braised Chicken

AGH! Time has surely escaped me! But if it helps at all, I have had this post ready to go for a few days now- just didnt have a moment to hit PUBLISH.

Friday, I was still in Holiday Party Mode. There were a lot of office parties last week. And I made it my business to be there…in holiday spirit. There was a also a lot of wine involved. Fast Forward to today, its Monday, although you probably wont read this till Tuesday… I spent the weekend baking and decorating 6lbs of cookie dough. WTF was I thinking? Not a job for one woman… or my tiny kitchen. Next year, you all have to come and help me. I will provide the wine and christmas carols.

I threw my back out last night (SUNDAY)…when i SNEEZED.

Yeah. I sneezed. And not to mention the annoying tickle in my throat that presents itself days before I see my niece and nephew. 😦 Taking lots of vitamin C in hopes of fighting it off.

okay, rambling done. Santa came early this year and brought me a dutch oven. Santa told me I was not to use it until Christmas but when i found a great recipe that required my dutch oven, i sent Santa a text and begged to use my dutch oven early. Santa put up a good fight but I was a good girl this year so really, how can anyone say no? Santa’s one request: Save me some.

You got it Santa.

Beer Braised Chicken (Courtesy of Claire Robinson: 5 Ingredient Fix)

Ingredients

• 3 slices thick cut applewood bacon ( I used half a pack of thickly sliced smoky bacon)
• 1 whole chicken, quartered (i used a pack of 8 chicken legs)
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed cored and thinly sliced
• 1 bottle dark beer (Guiness)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400*.

Dice the bacon into small pieces. In a Dutch oven, crisp up the bacon and set aside on a paper towel to drain and cool.

(i might have taken several pieces to nibble on… homemade bacon bits!!!)

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown in the rendered bacon fat. When the chicken is browned on all sides, remove from the pan and add the fennel to the dutch oven.

Caramelize for about 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Pour in the dark beer and bring to a simmer.

Simmer the beer and fennel for 5 minutes and put the chicken on top of the fennel.

Cover and place in the oven for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, flip the chicken.

Remove the pan from the oven and put over low heat. Remove the chicken pieces to a warmed serving platter.

Add the vinegar to the sauce and simmer to reduce to a thicker consistency, about 5 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces, top with crumbled bacon and serve immediately.

I served mine with a little bit of white rice. But this was a rich hearty dish that was cheap to make, easy to follow, and delicious to devour! The chicken was fall off the bone tender! The bacon was a nice addition of flavor and texture and the beer created an easy method for tenderizing the chicken!

Will i be making this again?

Most Definitely! This is great for those who are intimidated by large ingredient lists, novice cooks or someone looking to make an easy and tasty meal.

Thanks for the Dutch Oven santa! There will be a place of beer braised chicken and rice with an ice cold beer on Christmas eve…. but Santa- please dont drink and fly the sleigh!