Chicken Thighs with Roasted Grapes and Figs

A Luscious Chicken Dish full of flavor 

Several weeks ago, I came across this recipe in the Wall Street Journal. I knew right away that I had to try it and I am so glad I did. It turned out to be winner. My hubby, who prefers steak over chicken, loved it and ate it with gusto. This recipe has a sweetness with a lot of added flavor. Let’s face it, chicken can get boring, but this recipe livens it up with the sauce. The figs and grapes add a luscious taste. You could omit the frui,t but I wouldn’t. I might add prunes instead of figs or use just grapes. I made this for my Sunday dinner with rice and spinach. What a treat!

Life has been very good here at Sunny Cove. The weather is perfect, except for a 3 -day heatwave that brought over crowds from the Bay Area wanting to cool off in the ocean. I was busy in my kitchen making Königsberger Klopse, a yearly event for my German girlfriends. I also prepared a salmon dinner for five of my Swiss friends. My husband got a special treat when I made him my herring recipe. I have been experimenting with different recipes, some of them ended up not being blog worthy. There are some other great recipes I can’t wait to post. However, I might be running out of time, because I am leaving for Germany for a family event: my grandniece is being baptized. It’s a joyful event and I will see all my relatives.

This chicken dish will be on my table often. When figs are no longer in season, I will experiment with different fruits, although I think grapes add a wow factor to this dish. The sauce is definitely a winner. I have frozen a couple of the thighs for my husband to eat when I am gone.  However,I made a few minor changes, I poured off most of the chicken fat before frying the onions, leaving about 3 tablespoons in the pan. In the original recipe, the dish is  baked at a high temperature for 15 minutes. I reduced my cooking time to 10 minutes or less. I prepared the dish in the morning and reheated it at dinner time with the high heat. I didn’t cover my dish with foil, but instead used the lid for my pan. I used regular Dijon mustard instead of grainy mustard. I bought my date syrup at Trader Joe’s. When I cooked it again I substituted blue agave syrup for the date syrup.

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Ingredients :
This recipe serves 6
¾  cup chicken stock
1 TBS cornstarch 
1 ½ TBS mustard 
2 TBS date syrup
1 TBS honey
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. salt plus more for seasoning 
½ tsp. freshly ground pepper
¼  tsp. chili flakes
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (2½ pounds)
2 TBS olive oil
2 red onions cut into small wedges
¼ cup white wine
8  medium figs
½ pound red grapes
6 thyme sprigs, plus chopped thyme for garnish 

Directions:
Set the rack 8 inches from the broiler. Preheat oven 400˚degrees F. 
In a bowl whisk, together broth and cornstarch until dissolved. Add in honey, mustard, date juice, salt, pepper, and chili flakes.
Generously season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Wash and cut the stems off the figs. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the chicken skin-side down for 5 minutes  or more until the skin is crisp and golden. Flip and cook one more minute. Transfer the chicken to a platter and cover with foil. Discard most of the chicken fat, leaving about 3 tablespoons. Add onions to the skillet, and cook until slightly browned, 3-4 minutes. Put the cooked onions on the platter. Add the wine to the skillet, stirring and scraping up bits from the pan until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the broth mixture, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook until thickened slightly for 2-3 minutes. Return the chicken and onions to the pan with the accumulated juices. Nestle the figs and  the grapes among chicken pieces and scatter the thyme sprigs around. Spoon some of the sauce over the chicken. Cover the pan with foil (or a lid) and bake the dish for 20 minutes or until the grapes and figs begin to soften. When you are ready to serve this dish, spoon some more sauce over the chicken and bake at in a preheated oven at 425˙ Fahrenheit for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped thyme.


Guten Appetit!
The Wall Street Journal adapted the recipe from a cookbook called Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Table to Yours  by Adeena Sussmann.
Posted by sunnycovechef.com