It's What's for Dinner: Mushroom & Garlic Chicken

I don't mean to brag or anything, but I probably have the greatest mother-in-law on Earth. Not only is she one of the sweetest women alive, but she got me a kick ass 5.5 quart dutch oven for Christmas! CHA-CHING! Naturally, being someone who has never used one of these fabulous things before, I turned to the Pinterest Goddesses (and Gods) to hunt for the most bomb ass chicken recipe I could find. I stumbled upon this recipe for chicken thighs cooked in a garlic mushroom sauce. 20 cloves of garlic? I'll take it! I'm a big fan of adding my own personal touches, but it still ended up tasting out of this world! Not to mention it had my 15 month old shoveling it in his mouth as fast as he could. If you don't like the type of meat, or you have something else on hand, go for it! I'm sure this would taste excellent with chicken breasts as well. We served our over a bed of fluffy homemade mashed potatoes, but some crusty delicious bread would be awesome to try as well. Hell, put it on a sandwich! Regardless of what you do, give this a shot if you want something easy, affordable and something that the whole family will chow.

                         Mushroom and Garlic Chicken

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp EVOO

20 cloves of garlic 

1/2 chopped onion

16oz sliced mushrooms

1 package of whole chicken

1 cup chicken stock

1/3 cup half & half

1 tsp thyme

1 tbsp flour (optional)

1 tbsp fresh parsley

salt, pepper & garlic to taste

1. Heat your dutch oven (or large pot) over the stove on medium low and add butter & EVOO. Once everything melts together, add your chicken pieces. Let them cook for 3 minutes on one side before flipping and cooking on the other side for 5 minutes. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside on a plate.

2. Add onions, mushrooms & the cloves of garlic to the pot. You're going to want to stir constantly while making sure not to burst the garlic. Once the mushrooms are browned and the onions become translucent, remove them from the pot and set aside in a small bowl.

3. Pour in your chicken stock and use a wire whisk to remove any of the brown bits that stick to the bottom of the pot. Add in your half & half.

4. Add your chicken to the bottom of the pot and cover with your onion, mushroom and garlic mixture. Sprinkle your thyme over top of everything, then cover. Let cook for 45 minutes or until the chicken juice runs clear when pierced with a knife. 

5. Once the 45 minutes are up, taste your sauce. I noticed that my sauce was a little too runny for my liking, so at this point I pushed all of the veggies/chicken to the sides of the pot leaving a pool of the sauce in the center. Add the flour little by little making sure to whisk well to avoid any lumps. Add your salt, pepper and garlic. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes just to allow your sauce to thicken.

6. Take chicken pieces and shred the meat into the pot while removing the bones. Once you've done that, top with fresh parsley, ladle the deliciousness onto your mashed potatoes/rice/crunchy bread/whatever, and eat that shit up!