Wine and Blackberry Chicken

Inspired by...leftover wine reduction

I had a weekend recently that was inspired fully by wine.  In an "everything that I made was related to wine" kind of way anyway.  To kick it off, I made these yummy Sangria Cupcakes to share with my friends (and a couple of strangers) at a local wine festival.  To make the frosting, you have to make a red wine reduction syrup, and the recipe leaves you with plenty of leftover syrup.  I think it's just an awful thing to waste wine.  So I wanted to come up with a way to use these leftovers. 

When trying to come up with a recipe for the syrup, I was inspired by one of my favorite Pioneer Woman recipes - Peach-Whiskey Barbecue Chicken.  I figured I could do some swap outs of the alcohol (wine for whiskey) and the fruit.  My grocery store was having a sale on blackberries that day and I liked the idea of a red wine and blackberry combination.  So that's what I used!

I followed along with most of the methods from Ree's (aka Pioneer Woman) recipe and just used my own flavors.  It turned out great!  I may have discovered a new favorite entertaining recipe here.  It's basically a one-pot dish that cooks low and slow in the oven and can basically be ready to go when your guests arrive.  And it can easily be made gluten- and dairy-free by skipping the butter and substituting corn-starch for the flour at the end. 

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon butter (optional)
• salt and pepper
• ​4-6 chicken thighs (skin-on, bone-in)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3/4 cup red wine syrup (leftover from Sangria Cupcakes or see recipe directions below)
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces blackberries, plus extra for garnish
• 1 tablespoon of flour or corn starch​

Directions

1. For the Red Wine Syrup, mix 1 1/2 cups of red wine and 1/8 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar over medium high heat until boiling.  Lower heat to medium low and continue to heat at a low boil for about 30 minutes until reduced by half.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
3. ​In a large oven-proof pot, heat oil and butter over medium heat.
4. Season chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper.
5. Brown chicken on both sides in the pot in batches (don't crowd the pan) and then remove and set aside.
6. Pour off about half of the liquid/fat from the pot.
7. Add the onions to the pot and cook for a few minutes until golden and soft.
8. Add the garlic and stir and cook for about a minute, until fragrant.
9. Add the wine syrup, chicken broth, brown sugar, Worcestershire, and salt.  Mix to combine.
10. Add the blackberries and bring sauce to a boil..
11. Then return the chicken back to the pot.
12. Cover the pot and place in the oven.
13. Cook for about 2 hours, until chicken is basically falling-off-the-bone tender.
14. Once cooked, place the pot back on the stove on medium heat, remove the chicken thighs and set aside.  Add the flour or corn starch to the sauce.  Whisk flour into sauce and boil for several minutes until sauce thickens and becomes smoother. 
15. Serve chicken smothered with sauce and garnished with fresh blackberries if desired.