Winner, winner, chicken dinner 🙂 This braised Chicken and Potatoes in Creamy Garlic Sauce is superbly comforting and truly delicious with all of the crispy skin and luxurious sauce, it’s versatile and can be served with bread, rice, roasted vegetables or just on its own and it comes together in about 50 minutes. With this braised Chicken and Potatoes in Creamy Garlic Sauce, weeknight dinners are sure to feel like a treat.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 5-6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs; you could use legs or breasts instead
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 3-4 tbsp of all-purpose flour
• 5-6 baby potatoes, halved lengthwise; feel free to omit to make it low-carb
• 2 tbsp of oil
• 4 shallots or 1 white onion; chopped
• 15 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed to release the flavour
• A few sprigs of thyme and rosemary
• 300 ml warm stock; I like chicken stock, vegetable stock is great as well
• 1 tbsp of mustard; I like dijon mustard here
• 1 tsp to 1 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 cup of double cream; feel free to use single cream if you wish
• Parsley or/and chives, minced for garnish (optional)

Method

• Prepare the chicken thighs by trimming of the extra fat and skin leaving the skin on the top or the smooth side of the thigh intact; the skin on the top crisps up wonderfully in the oven and adds a delicious crunch to the dish.
• Drying the chicken thighs with some paper towels, marinade well with the salt and a generous amount of ground pepper to ensure that the chicken is seasoned evenly.
• Coat the thighs evenly and generously with some all-purpose flour and set aside.
• Place a flat-bottomed pan over medium high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil.
• When the oil is hot, place the chicken thighs skin side down without over-crowding and brown them on both sides turning once or twice (it will take 8- 12 minutes to brown the thighs on all sides provided the pan is on medium-high heat; keep an eye on them; you want them nice and golden).
• While your chicken is browning, pre-heat your oven at 190C fan with grill.
• Once done, take the chicken off the heat and place the potatoes in the pan without crowding them and brown on all sides turning once or twice.
• Once done, set aside and drain off the excess oil/fat saving about a teaspoon or two.
• Add the chopped onions and sauté until softened and once done, add in the garlic and the herbs and sauté until aromatic.
• Now, add in the mustard and stir until it warms up and thickens a little and then drizzle over a teaspoon or two of honey and stir to combine.
• Now, pour in the warm stock, once it’s well combined with the aromatics, mustard and honey, pour in the cream and stir well to combine.
• Once, the sauce comes to a boil, carefully taste a little and adjust the seasonings if needed; please don’t add all the salt that you think you will need as the sauce will evaporate and thicken a little; you can always add more later if needed.
• Now, arrange the chicken in a single layer with the skin side up and nestle the potatoes within the gaps if you are using an oven proof pan; you can also transfer the sauce into an oven-proof dish and arrange the chicken and the potatoes accordingly.
• Add some ground pepper on top and place the pan/dish uncovered in the middle of the pre-heated oven for 35 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and the chicken is fork tender; braising it uncovered will leave you with the crispiest chicken skin and potatoes you could ever imagine in a braised dish..
• Garnish with parsley or chives and serve with crusty bread, rice, roasted vegetables or just on its own and enjoy.