I had bought fresh chicken thighs to serve for last night's dinner, but before I could get that plan in place a recipe from Food and Wine magazine showed up in my inbox that changed everything. Titled as above, it was attributed to Top Chef winner CJ Jacobson as a combination he came across while traveling in Central and South America. With the inclusion of potatoes, and coffee beans in the gremolata, it actually strikes me as very Peruvian or Columbian, but what do I know--except that I made it for dinner last night and it's a keeper.
If you like spicy food you can make it as spicy as you like (Paul Winalski, I'm thinking of you here!). We do, and I did. Before dinner I served a Tanqueray and cilantro martini--a perfect lead-in to the meal--and with the food I served a German Reisling.
Rather than include it here as written, I'm going to write it down with the mods required to reproduce what I made--for two servings, which is what most of us cook.
Ingredients:
2 whole chicken legs (or four thighs)
1/4 pound fresh Mexican chorizo*
1/2 a small onion, thinly sliced
1 fat coin of ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 hot dried red chile, or red pepper flakes to taste
1 6 ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 can water
1/2 lb baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 " pieces, or a handful of small creamers
1 tblsp fresh lime juice
olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp crushed coffee beans
zest of one lime
*Who regularly buys chorizo? Some of you may live where it's not even something you can buy. I can but I didn't want the excess chorizo, so I took 1/4 lb of Jimmy Dean sausage and added lots of powdered red chile, garlic powder and cumin to approximate the flavors of a good chorizo, and used that instead. It brought in the essential flavor, texture and color needed, and the rest of the chub is something I can use soon.
Preparation:
In a pan large enough to hold your chicken in one layer, and not too crowded as you need room for the potatoes, salt and pepper the chicken pieces and brown well, skin side down first, about 6-8 minutes each. Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off most of the fat. Add the chorizo and onion to the dish, stirring to break up the meat, until the onion is transluscent, about five minutes, then add the ginger garlic and chile and cook another minute or so until fragrant. Add the coconut milk and water, adjust seasoning if needed, then nhestle in the chicken and potatoes and braise covered for about 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are done. Zest the lime for the gremolata then squeeze some lime juice into the chicken, and stir in, just before serving.
In a small bowl make the gremolata by combining lime zest, cilantro and crushed coffee beans. Divide the chicken, broth and potatoes between two wide shallow bowls; garnish with the gremolata.