Vinegar Braised Chicken Legs Recipes

VINEGAR-AND-GARLIC-BRAISED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, bay leaves, garlic, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl; add chicken and toss until coated with marinade. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Remove chicken (reserving marinade) and pat dry with paper towels. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add half of chicken and cook until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn and brown other sides about 2 minutes more; transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining chicken.
• Return all chicken and any accumulated juices to Dutch oven; add reserved marinade, making sure liquid comes halfway up sides of chicken (you may need to nestle it). Bring to a simmer over high, then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer chicken to a clean plate. Skim fat from liquid with a spoon and discard bay leaves. Increase heat to medium‐high and reduce liquid until syrupy (you should have about 1 cup). Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

CHICKEN BRAISED IN TWO VINEGARS

Steps:

• Season chicken well on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until it starts to become fragrant and lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Begin cooking the chicken, making sure not to crowd the pan (you may need to do this in batches). Cook until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside and begins to lightly brown in spots, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. If it's not cooked through at this point, that's O.K.
• If you've cooked the chicken in batches, add all of the meat and any residual juices back to the pan. Pour in the vinegars, add reserved garlic and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to medium-low, cover and allow the meat to continue to cook in the sauce, about 5 to 7 minutes more.
• Uncover and toss chicken well in the vinegar sauce to coat. Cook chicken about 3 to 5 minutes more or until the sauce has reduced by about half and has thickened slightly. Sprinkle with parsley and oregano, if using, and season with flaky salt, if using. Serve in bowls over polenta or with rice pilaf and spoon the remaining sauce atop.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH RASPBERRY VINEGAR

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan or skillet and brown chicken a few pieces at a time.
• Transfer browned chicken to an ovenproof baking dish.
• To the remaining oil in the pan, add onion, garlic, and bay leaf, and cook gently for 1-2 minutes until onion is transparent.
• Add the vinegar and water and stir to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet; pour the sauce over the chicken, being sure that the onions are distributed evenly around the chicken pieces and lodge the bay leaf at the bottom.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is tender; turn chicken pieces once during baking.
• Transfer chicken pieces to serving dish.
• Remove fat from pan juices (I usually use a paper towel or lettuce leaf placed on the layer of fat for a few seconds) and pour over the chicken.
• Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.
• Great with rice or noodles.
• MY NOTE: I put the chicken in skin side down first, then covered the baking dish with foil for the first 1/2 hour of cooking, then turned the chicken and removed the foil for the remainder of the cooking time.

YOGURT-BRAISED CHICKEN LEGS WITH GARLIC AND GINGER

Steps:

• Generously season chicken legs all over with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium. Arrange chicken legs in pot skin side down (you want them to fit snugly) and cook, lifting up once or twice to let hot fat run underneath, until skin is golden brown and crisp, 10-15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, placing skin side up.
• Reduce heat to medium-low and add head of garlic, cut sides down, and ginger to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until ginger is starting to brown and curl around the edges and garlic is golden, about 4 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in turmeric followed by 2 cups yogurt and mix until smooth; season with salt.
• Nestle legs back into pot, skin side up, in a single layer and add water just until legs are almost submerged with skin barely peeking out. Bring to a very gentle simmer, adjusting heat if needed, and cook, uncovered, until meat is very tender and just about falling off the bone, 75-90 minutes (the yogurt will separate and look curdled, which is fine). Let cool 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, finely grate remaining garlic clove into a small bowl. Add remaining 1 cup yogurt and stir to combine; season with salt and pepper.
• Smear yogurt mixture across a platter and scatter chickpeas over. Carefully transfer chicken legs to platter. Using a large spoon or small ladle, skim off bright yellow fat that has collected on surface of braising liquid and drizzle all over platter (it's okay if some rogue spices make it onto platter). Top with scallions and mint, then squeeze lime wedges over.

VINEGAR-BRAISED CHICKEN AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Cook onions in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, 5-8 minutes. Drain and let cool. Trim root ends; peel.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add pancetta to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and pancetta is brown, 8-10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to a large bowl.
• Add onions to same pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer onions and garlic to bowl with pancetta.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add chicken to pot skin side down and cook, turning, until browned on all sides, 10-15 minutes per batch; transfer to bowl with onions.
• Carefully drain fat from pot and return to medium-high heat. Add both vinegars to pot and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Add broth, raisins, bay leaves, and reserved chicken, pancetta, onions, and garlic to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until chicken is fork-tender, 35-40 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken and onions to a large platter. Skim fat from cooking liquid and discard. Remove bay leaves, and season sauce with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over chicken and onions.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH FIGS, HONEY & VINEGAR

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Sprinkle the chicken legs with sea salt. For best results, cover and leave in the fridge overnight. When ready to cook, wipe off the salt and trim any excess flesh.
• Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan, add the chicken skin side down, and cook for about 6 minutes or until coloured. Add the butter to the pan, and turn the chicken over to baste.
• Add the onions and wine and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the vermouth and the stock, being careful not to cover the chicken completely.
• Bring to a simmer and sprinkle the chicken with the crushed peppercorns. Transfer pan to oven. Roast for about 30 - 40 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.
• Whilst the chicken is cooking, warm the honey and vinegar slightly.
• Once cooked through, remove the chicken and onions from the pan and put to one side to keep warm.
• Add the warmed honey mix to the sauce and simmer until reduced by half.
• Place the figs in a large clean pan, cut side down, and strain the reduced sauce over the figs. Cook for 5 minutes, basting frequently until the figs have slightly softened.
• Serve the chicken leg with the figs and onion quarters.
• Add parsley to the sauce, check seasoning and pour over.