German Dijon Chicken

Saveur is one of my favorite magazines. It combines my love of food, travel, human interest stories, and kitchen gadgets and lays them them out on pages with nice, pretty photos. I was immediately intrigued by a Chicken Dijon recipe; it's simplicity, the story, the photo. I've also spent most of my life with a huge disdain for mustard, the very smell would make me puke. Over the course of the past few years I discovered I like stone ground mustard (note: our taste-buds change about every 7 years, meaning foods that used to taste gross can taste good over time). I was excited to take my new love of mustard and cook with it.

It wasn't until I went to go make the recipe that I realized it contained an ingredient that I don't have in the house, because no matter how much I try it I hate it; coriander. But I was committed to making Dijon chicken and started to change up the recipe. Channeling my German heritage, I switched the coriander with caraway seed and then kept making changes along the way. The following recipe for German Dijon Chicken is loosely based on the original Saveur recipe, but it was delicious.

• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 piece chicken (about 3 pounds)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup of dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• Crusty bread, for serving

1. Pre-head oven to 300 degrees
2. In a large skillet, toast the caraway seeds over moderately high heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer the seeds to a mortar and let cool. Crush the seeds coarsely with a pestle.
3. In the same skillet, heat the olive. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add breasts to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat, turning, until golden brown all over. Over the course of 10 minutes add the thighs, then the legs, then the wings (by size of piece to promote even cooking).
4. Remove chicken from skillet when it is a nice, golden brown.
5. Add shallots to skilled and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.
6. Add the broth and wine, stirring with the onions and getting the chicken “brown bits” off the skillet and into the liquid for flavor.
7. Add chicken and bring to boil.
8. Cover put chicken in oven to braise in liquid for about 2 hours, or until chicken is almost falling off the bone (check occasionally to flip chicken if it’s not fully immersed in liquid).
9. Remove chicken from oven. Transfer the chicken to a platter, cover and keep warm.
10. In a small bowl, whisk the mustard with the sour cream. Whisk the mixture into the skillet and simmer the sauce over moderate heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.
11. Return the chicken to the skillet and turn to coat. Serve the chicken with crusty bread.

NOTE: I added brussel sprout leaves from the top of the brussel sprout stalks to the skillet prior to braising. I have a freezer full of these because they are delicious and I get them from the farmers' market in the fall. If you too want to add a vegetable to this to give it extra flavor, vitamins, and fiber, add collard greens.