Poulet au vinaigre (French vinegar chicken)
Lyon’s bistro classic: crisp chicken braised in a tangy, silky sauce of vinegar, wine and shallots, finished with a little cream and butter.
- 60 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 4
- About $2.39 a serving
- 640 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 6 bone-in chicken thighs, skin on
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 3 shallots, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp chives, chopped (optional)
- 1 French bread, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 1¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp dried thyme
Each serving has about 640 calories, 35 g protein, 8 g carbs and 48 g fat, and costs about $2.39 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No bone-in chicken thighs? Chicken drumsticks work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No chives? Green onions work.
- No French bread? Sourdough bread works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the chicken dry and it all over with the salt and pepper.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large with a lid over medium. Cook the thighs skin side down 12 minutes, until and , flip for 2 minutes, and move them to a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 14 min
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat. Add the shallots and cook 3 minutes, until soft, then in the garlic and tomato paste for 1 minute.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 4 min
Pour in the vinegar, , and 2 to 3 minutes, until by half.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Reduce. Reducing means simmering a liquid with the lid off so some of the water steams away. The sauce gets thicker and its flavor gets stronger.
How you’ll know: The level drops in the pan, and the sauce coats the back of a spoon instead of running off.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: The fumes are sharp at first. Turn on the fan and don’t lean over the pan. The sourness mellows as it cooks.Add the wine, broth and thyme and .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium-high heat
Return the chicken skin side up, with the skin above the liquid. Cover, turn the heat to low and 20 to 25 minutes, until the thickest thigh reads 165°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 22 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Move the chicken to plates, turn the heat to high and the sauce 3 to 4 minutes, until it’s slightly syrupy.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
High heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Take the pan off the heat and in the cream, mustard and the last tablespoon of butter until glossy.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Spoon the sauce around the chicken, scatter the chives over, and serve with bread for the sauce.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
