Dijon Chicken with Sage

Sage is one of those herbs that people often wonder what to do with. Fortunately, the Internet is full of great ideas for things to try with this tasty herb! Our very favourite thing to do with sage is to toss it in with pasta, roasted pumpkin and brown butter, but it's not quite pumpkin season yet. Here's another great option:

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken thighs

• 12 garlic cloves (with skin on!)

• 10 sage leaves

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 1/2 cup white wine

• Water as needed

• 1/2 cup 10-15% cream

• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. In a large heavy bottomed pot, head the butter and olive oil over medium heat, then add the sage leaves and the garlic cloves with skin on. When the butter starts to sizzle, add the chicken thighs skin-side-down, and cook until golden brown on this one side. Turn them with a spatula, then brown the other side. They will be cooking more thoroughly later one - at this point, you are just looking for a nice golden brown colour.

2. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add the white wine and and deglaze the pan, scraping any pieces of meat stuck on the bottom. Add the mustard and dissolve with a whisk.

3. Add the chicken thighs, then add water to 2/3 of the hight of the chicken thighs. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, then let simmer over low heat, covered, for 30 minutes.

4. Remove the cooked chicken thighs and keep warm. Let the sauce simmer over low heat to reduce to a volume of approximately 1 cup. Squeeze the garlic and sage in the pan with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula to release their flavour, then discard them.

5. Dissolve the flour in 3 tablespoons of cream using a whisk. Then add the remaining cream and whisk to combine. Add a bit of the hot chicken sauce to the cream mixture, and whisk together very well. Slowly pour into the pan with the rest of the chicken sauce, whisking well so that the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom.

6. Let the sauce reduce again to the amount you need, always stirring. You will need about a cup of sauce to serve with the 8 chicken thighs.

7. Pour the hot sauce over the chicken thighs and serve immediately with some mashed potatoes.

Recipe adapted from Food 52.