Happy Thankgiving and Lime Chicken

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. As I am usually on call for this holiday, the only thing I cook on Thanksgiving is gravy. And that recipe is a secret, mostly because I make it up every year as I go along. In honor of this, I have decided to share with you a recipe that tastes absolutely nothing like any of the stuff you usually eat on Thanksgiving: chicken thighs in a lime flavored broth. This Mexican style dish merges the joys of "fall off the bone" chicken with the light flavor of a lime and cilantro based chicken stock. If you do it right does not put the G in gadempt (My apologies to non-yiddish speakers). The trick in this recipe is to use chicken thighs, which survive the braising and simmering process much better than breasts, which have a narrow window of cooking time between excellent and rubber. If you insist of adding breasts to this meal (it will not work with breasts alone, as they are devoid of fat), add them to the broth 30 minutes after you add everything else.

INGREDIENTS

12 chicken thighs, skinless but with bone
2 3” onions
4 sliced garlic cloves
2 splashes of tequila
2 chipolata peppers from can (I bought these at grocery on 85th and Broadway)
3 limes, juiced (have another ready for taste)
pepper and salt
2 teaspoons dry coriander
fresh coriander
chicken stock (about one quart)

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED

Large pot to cook chicken/stock (dutch oven or other large covered pan would be great)
Skillet to brown thighs if you do not have a dutch oven or other large covered pan
Good knife
cutting boards
Stirring implements
Tongs help a lot


Chop onions and garlic and brown in pan. Remove and set aside. Brown chicken thighs (do it in batches if pan is not large) and set aside. Add onions, garlic and chicken to large pot. After removing grease from pan add a little stock to the pan if it is not burned and scrape off any drippings. Add this to pan.
Place pot on medium flame. Add dry coriander Add enough stock to cover chicken. Add lime juice. Add two peppers from the can (you can add three if you like a lot of heat). Add at least 1/4 teaspoon pepper and not more than 1/2 teaspoon (you can always add more at the end). When the mixture starts to boil, turn down to low and simmer uncovered. Let cook about 1 hour or so. Chicken should be soft and almost fall off the bone. Be sure to skim off the grease!! Re-salt and pepper liquid to taste and add fresh coriander few minutes before turning off flame. Tastes great with rice and tortillas!