On the Table: Awesome Braised Chicken

Most of my recipes use pretty common ingredients and are not reliant on a specific brand of product.  Last night I made a braised chicken dish, however, that is inextricably tied to this product:

The name is very accurate.  It is awesome, and it is sauce.  Bigg Riggs Farm is a seller at the local farmers market (which sadly does not start until May - no worries though, I loaded up on sauces last year), and Awesome Sauce is just one of the sauces, jams, and other products they sell (in addition to fresh produce).  (I checked out their website this morning and apparently their products are also sold at local Whole Foods locations.  I was super excited to learn that I can stock up year-round.)  The Awesome Sauce has the creaminess of a thin ranch dressing, and it initially coats your mouth like dressing, but then you get a great pop of flavor.  It has a spicy finish, but is not overwhelming.  It gave the chicken an incredible flavor.

To make the braised chicken:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Coat the bottom of an oven-proof pot with canola oil and put it over medium-high heat.  The pot should be just big enough that the chicken will fit in a single layer.  When the oil gets hot, pat dry the chicken pieces (I used two thighs and two drumsticks) and put them in the pot in a single layer.  Turn the pieces as needed so the chicken browns on all sides.  When the chicken is browned, add to the pot 1/2 cup of dry white wine and enough Awesome Sauce to come about 2/3 of the way up the chicken (I used about 6 ounces, but the amount will really depend on the size of your pot).  When the liquid comes to a simmer, cover the pot and put it in the preheated oven.  Cook for about 1-1.25 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and very tender.  While the chicken is cooking, prepare rice as an accompaniment - you are going to want it to soak up the sauce!

Sadly, I do not have a picture of the finished dish - I was about halfway done eating before I even thought of taking a picture.  Yes, it is that good.  Enjoy!

If you are interested, you can learn about Bigg Riggs farm here:  http://www.biggriggsfarm.com/index.html