Food Lust People Love: Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken

Tangy and tasty, this spicy vinegar braised chicken is made with balsamic and red wine vinegars and lots of garlic. It’s delicious!

Back in the day, it was quite common, at least in the southern United States to save rendered bacon grease for frying other ingredients. In fact, I have my grandmother’s can on my stove today but I must confess that it now contains just the regulators for my pressure cooker.

Not because I don’t save my bacon grease – bite your tongue! - but because I keep my bacon grease in a Mason jar in the refrigerator. It lasts for ages like that and I just keep adding to it whenever I fry bacon.

I guess in the old days, refrigeration wasn’t common. My mom remembered when an ice box was actually an ice box and a man would deliver a big block of ice each week to put in the bottom drawer to keep everything up top cool.

All of that to say, this recipe calls for bacon grease! It adds a lot of flavor but if you don’t save yours – why not? - please substitute olive oil or canola.

Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken

We like food spicy so I use a whole teaspoon crushed red pepper here. Use less if spicy isn’t your thing. This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking.

Ingredients

2.2 lbs or 1 kg bone-in chicken thighs

Fine sea salt and black pepper

2 tablespoons bacon grease (or substitute olive or canola oil)

6 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed and lightly chopped

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

½ cup or 120ml good quality balsamic vinegar

½ cup or 120ml good quality red wine vinegar

5 1/2 oz or 155g baby roma tomatoes, halved

For garnish and added flavor:

Small bunch cilantro, hard stems discarded, chopped

Method

Season chicken well on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, heat the bacon grease over medium heat. Panfry the chicken, skin side down first, making sure not to crowd the pan. We want to get some good color on the skin and if the chicken is packed too tightly, it will steam instead of fry.

Turn the chicken once the skin is browned and panfry till golden on the other side as well. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside on a plate deep enough to contain any juices that form.

Remove all but a couple of tablespoons of the oil from the pan. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until it starts to become fragrant and lightly golden, about 2 minutes.

Add in the crushed red pepper and fry for another 30 seconds or so. Pour in the vinegars and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium low and put the chicken and any accumulated juices back in the pan.

Cover and cook for 15 minutes, basting the chicken occasionally with the sauce. The chicken will let out juice so for a while you’ll have more sauce but just keep cooking.

Remove the lid and continue cooking and basting until the sauce is almost completely gone and the chicken is fully cooked inside. (You can check by cutting into one of the thighs. There shouldn’t be any pink left near the bone.)

Add in the tomato halves and pop the lid back on for a minute or two, so they warm through. Baste again so that the tomatoes are covered with sauces.

Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 22th edition of the 2024 Alphabet Challenge, brought to you by the letter V. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the V recipes below: