David Lebovitz’s Wine Harvester’s Chicken

Source: David Lebovitz

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces (Frank used 8 chicken thighs)
• 1½ tsp kosher salt
• 1½ tbsp olive oil, plus more for frying the bacon
• 1 cup diced, thick-cut bacon
• 2 shallots (or 1 small onion), minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1½ cups dry white wine
• 1½ cups chicken stock
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 (1″) strips fresh orange zest
• 10 branches fresh thyme (or 2 tsp dried thyme)
• 10 allspice berries, lightly crushed with the back of a knife
• 2 cups grapes, stemmed (use the most flavorful grapes you can find — muscat, Niagara, or Concord are great; regular grapes are fine too; seedless is nice)

Method

1. Season the chicken with salt and let sit overnight in the fridge. (This step is not imperative, but it does make the meat more succulent.)

2. Heat 1½ tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven, large wide casserole, or roasting pan that has a lid.

3. Sear the chicken pieces so they are brown on both sides, about 5 to 8 minutes per side. Depending on the size of your Dutch oven, you may need to do them in batches. Remove the pieces of chicken to a bowl once they are browned.

4. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

5. Saute the bacon in the pot. If necessary, add a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Stir the bacon until it’s mostly cooked, then add the shallots or onion and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until the onions are translucent, about 2 minutes.

6. Add the wine, stock, and vinegar to the pot, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the black pepper, orange zest, thyme, and allspice. Put the chicken pieces in the pot, skin side down, cover, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

7. Remove the pot from the oven. Turn the chicken pieces over, so they are skin side up. Bake, uncovered, adding the grapes to the pot midway during cooking, until the liquid in the pot is thick and reduced to the point where the chicken pieces are about halfway submerged in sauce, and the chicken is browned (about 30 to 45 minutes).

Notes

The chicken would go well with mashed potatoes, another root vegetable puree, or wide noodles tossed in a little butter.

The next day, it can be reheated in a gratin dish in the oven (350°F), then finished under the broiler to give the chicken some color.