One-Pot Chicken and Mushrooms

One pot is all you need to make this chicken and mushrooms recipe for dinner. The creamy sauce is enhanced with onion, garlic, basil, thyme, Parmesan, sherry and chicken broth. So good.

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Don’t you love it when you find a recipe you know will become part of your regular repertoire? This chicken and mushroom dish has quickly become a favorite in our house. I found the recipe on the Damn Delicious blog thanks to Pinterest.

The original recipe uses bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs but I made it with boneless, skinless thighs. Searing the skinless thighs adds some nice chicken bits to the bottom of the pan – an additional punch of flavor for the sauce.

Even though I cut the recipe in half, I kept the amount of mushrooms the same so they would have a starring role. I used shiitake mushrooms in addition to cremini because I can never get enough shiitake.

Instead of regular garlic, I used black garlic. Black garlic has become one of my go-to pantry ingredients. There’s black garlic in the frig, and cracked black garlic (Black Crack), black garlic sea salt and New Bay 33, an improved version of Old Bay featuring black garlic, in the pantry.

How does garlic go from white to black? Obis One explains: “Heat, humidity and vacuum create an environment that lets the natural sugars and enzymes within the garlic do its own thing.” This natural enzyme process sweetens, backens and softens the garlic cloves, not mooshy soft, but more like dried fruit. The nutritional bonus: black garlic has twice the antioxidants of raw garlic without the garlic breath consequences.

Where do I get all this black garlic goodness? Obis One, a small, organic, family farm in southern New Jersey. I have a feeling black garlic will show up next month underneath the Christmas trees of some of my family members. Ssssh, don’t tell.

One-Pot Chicken and Mushrooms |Grabbing the Gusto

One-Pot Chicken and Mushrooms

You’ll need a large, oven-safe pan. That’s it!

• 4 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on or boneless, skinless
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons (at least) olive oil
• 1 medium or large onion, chopped
• 8 ounces (or more) cremini and/or shiitake mushrooms, quartered or sliced thickly
• Optional: chopped red bell and/or poblano pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic or 1 teaspoon minced black garlic
• 1/4 cup sherry, white wine or marsala
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, or 2 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons (or more, definitely more) grated Parmesan
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper.

Melt butter with oil in a large oven-safe pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down if you’re using bone-in thighs, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.

Turn heat down to medium-low to medium. Add more butter and oil to the pan, if you need it. Let the butter melt and add the onion, mushrooms, (optional peppers) and some salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 5-6 minutes. Make a well in the center of the vegetables and add the garlic and a bit of oil to cover it. Cook for 1 minute. If using black garlic, just stir it into the vegetables. Add sherry and let it reduce. Stir in chicken broth, thyme and basil. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Return chicken to the pan.

Place into the oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175, about 25-30 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan. Stir in the cream (or cream cheese) and Parmesan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add chicken back to the pan and serve.

Adapted from: Baked Chicken and Mushroom Skillet, Damn Delicious