#74 French Dijon Chicken

What exciting dish can you make with chicken drumsticks that are sold at a great deal, sometimes for under $5? I got mine for under $3.50, 12 pieces. :) I found a way to make a very delicious meal using this recipe by Kerry Keretsky, creator of French Revolution Food. We had a delicious French dish for under $5.

Yield: Serves 4

FRENCH DIJON CHICKEN

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons light olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
10 chicken legs
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 shallots, diced
3/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
6 stems of thyme, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup cream


Directions:

1. In a wide, heavy-bottomed pan, heat 3 tablespoons light olive oil on medium-high heat.
2. Season the chicken legs with salt and pepper, and pat dry with paper towel. Sear in the hot oil until golden-brown on all sides. Remove to a plate.
3. Pour out the hot chicken oil, and lower the heat to low. Add 1 tablespoon fresh light olive oil to the pan. Add in the shallots, and then the garlic 1 minute later, and sauté just until translucent and fragrant- two minutes total from the time the shallots went into the pan.
4. Pour in the white wine, and raise the heat to medium-high. Reduce the wine-it will bubble the chicken bits up from the bottom of the pan, and reduce by about half. Then add the chicken stock and 6 stems of thyme. Then, nestle the chicken back into the pan in a single layer. Bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. and cover the pot, simmering for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, remove the cover from the pot, and allow the chicken to simmer a further 5 to 10 minutes uncovered.
6. Take the pan off the heat. Again, remove the chicken from the pan. Whisk in the cream  and mustard until the sauce is homogenous. Then strain. Toss the chicken with the Dijon sauce, top with fresh thyme, and serve right away with crusty bread and a salad.

I've always thought they are baby onions and never buy them :) Now I know how good they are, milder than normal onions. Shallots add a sweet but pungent flavor to dishes to a lot of French dishes. In parts of France, a grey variety is grown. Probably originated in Central or Southeast Asia, and then traveled to India and the Eastern Mediterranean.

It has many names:

In India:
Hindi, Marathi, Marwari and Punjabi: kanda or gandana or pyaaz
Bengali: gundhun
Malayalam: cheriya ulli or chuvanna ulli
Tamil: chinna vengayam (or sambar vengayam in the Chennai region.
Kashmiri: praan.
Nepal: chyapi (छ्यापी).

In Southeast Asia:
Malay:  bawang merah kecil
Java:    brambang
Thai:   hom (หอม, fragrant)  
Cambodian (Khmer): katem kror hom 
Australia : eschalot

Iran:  mousir (موسیر)

 It was really delicious. What a great discovery for us.