Where's the Beef?

That will be the big question on everyone's mind when they see that my Land & Sea dinner was actually comprised of chicken and shrimp as the main characters.  It's no secret to anyone who knows how I work in the kitchen that a "one-pot meal" is KING in my book.  You get your veggies and protein together with some sauce, all in one scoopful, and it really lets all of the flavors of your ingredients get intimate with each other.  Sassy, right?  We really enjoy the flavor of chicken thighs, and it's not something that we use too often because chicken breasts are much lower in fat.  But on this day, I was willing to splurge in an effort to get the most flavor OUT of my chicken instead of putting lots of flavor INTO a much more bland, plain chicken breast.  White wine and lemon work really well together so I wanted this dish to compliment that pairing with the flavors of fresh herbs from the garden.

Here's what I made:

Lemony Fennel Chicken & Shrimp with White Wine
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 5 or 6 thighs)
2/3 lb large shrimp (this is approx, I used frozen, raw, peeled and deveined)
1 large vidalia onion, thinly sliced (not diced!!)
1 large fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, minced finely
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/3 cup fresh herbs, mixed (I used basil, oregano, marjoram & flat leaf parsley)
fresh thyme sprigs (whole)
2 fresh bay leaves
1 cup dry white wine (I used Cavit pinot grigio)
1 cup chicken broth (maybe a little more depending on consistency)
1/2 cup gluten free flour blend (for dredging, I used Namaste's GF mix)
1/2 T poultry seasoning
1/2 T paprika
2 tsp. garlic salt
2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper

To get this one started, get a large cast iron pot heating up on the stove.  As the pot is heating up, get together the dredging mixture for the chicken.  Whisk together the GF flour, poultry seasoning, paprika, chipotle chili powder and garlic salt in a wide, shallow bowl.  Open up your package of chicken and season each side of the thighs liberally with salt and pepper.  When the pot is hot add a good 2-3 T of olive oil to the pot and let it start heating up.  Keep the heat on pretty high to get a good sear on the chicken.  Dredge each piece of chicken in the GF flour mixture and shake off the excess.  Get the chicken into the olive oil and DON'T MOVE IT.  You should hear a nice sizzle and you want to leave it there to get a good sear.  Sear the chicken for about 3 minutes on each side, and when it's nicely browned move the chicken onto a plate.

Since you are using chicken thighs, you'll see that some fat has rendered off the chicken.  Add another T olive oil if you need it and then add the sliced onions, fennel, carrot and garlic to the pot.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Stir things around and then this cook through until the veggies begin to soften (about 8 minutes or so).  While this is happening, defrost your shrimp in some room temp water, then drain, season with salt and pepper and set aside in a small bowl.  Add the white wine and deglaze the pot, scraping up all of the brown bits from when you seared the chicken.  Stir in the lemon zest and all of the fresh herbs at this point.  It will smell amazing.  Toss in the bay leaves and fresh thyme sprig and stir it around.  Add the chicken broth to the pot and let this mixture begin to bubble.  Using tongs, move the chicken back to the pot, nestling into the sauce and veggie mixture so that the chicken is 1/2 to 3/4 of the way covered.  You really want to braise, not boil, the chicken so make sure it's not totally covered.  Cover the pot and lower the heat to a simmer.  You want to cook this low and slow, probably about 45 minutes or so.

About 10 minutes before the dish is done, open up the pot and smell the deliciousness of it all (not a required step in the recipe).  The sauce seemed a bit thin to me so I mixed up some broth and corn starch and stirred it in to thicken up in the last 10 minutes.  At this point, add the shrimp to the pot and stir around.  Cover it up again and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.  The sauce will thicken up and the shrimp will cook through and be a nice bright pink color.  Remove the thyme sprig and basil leaves and stir in the lemon juice right before serving for a little added "freshness".  I served this with some short grain brown rice which really went well with the sauce.  I also garnished with some basil, sliced into long thin strips.  This was really delicious.  Make sure you season throughout with lots of salt and pepper, because I used lots of mild flavors in this dish.  The salt really brings it all out.  I hope you make this!