Okay, so this one a) sounds a heck of a lot more complicated than it really is, and b) is a result of me making too much of one thing and trying to use it up.

So, some time ago, I had made some spinach and mushroom crepes and served them with a red wine and butter sauce.  There was about a cup and a half of sauce left over.  I found the leftover sauce in the fridge a few weeks later and I thought to myself, “MAN, that would go great on chicken.” And that’s… the whole story, really.

The Sauce:

1 bottle red wine.  Any ol’ red will do.

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar.

2ish oz butter.

-> Combine the sugar and wine in a saucepan and reduce by two-thirds.  This is going to take a while.  It’s cool, man.

-> In a separate pan, heat the butter until it browns.  WATCH IT CAREFULLY.  Butter goes from beautifully nutty and brown to burned and gross in the blink of an eye.

-> Whisk brown butter into wine reduction.  It’ll separate if it sits, that’s okay.  Just re-stir.

The Chicken:

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.

Salt, Pepper, pan spray or olive oil

Sauce

The Method:

Heat a skillet on medium-high.  Spray or lightly drizzle with oil.  Salt and Pepper your chicken.

Sear chicken until golden on all sides.

Pour in your lovely red wine sauce. Reduce heat to low.

Cover (but leave the lid a little cracked) and let it braise until your chicken is done.  You’ll want to check it now and again to flip the chicken, make sure it’s not sticking, stir the sauce around, etc.

So the chicken will be lovely and tender because it’s cooked low and slow.  The sauce will reduce to this rich, wine-y, buttery, chicken-y syrup.  And you will love your life.

Enjoy!