Sherried Chicken Thighs with Cinnamon and Saffron

Sherried Chicken Thighs are a Spanish dish that is incredible.  You thicken the sauce with almonds and egg yolks to create rich, deep layers of flavour!

Not to mention the cinnamon and saffron!

These  Sherry Tapas Meatballs were so good we saved the extra sauce to go with breakfast the next day.

So I couldn’t wait to try this Sherried Chicken Thighs dish!

It has a few steps.  I usually have hard boiled eggs and toasted almonds on hand so I didn’t have to do any work for those steps.

You can serve this with a traditional Spanish tortilla.

I served it with this Summer Squash and Potato Torte and I used Manchego Cheese to complement the Spanish theme.

Chef’s Tips for Sherried Chicken Thighs with Cinnamon and Saffron

1. Add about 30 minutes prep time if you have to make the hard boiled eggs and toast the almonds. Check How to Make Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs.
2. You can use bone-in, skin on thighs if you like but remove the skin before garnishing and serving.
3. If you have a large ovenproof skillet you can make this all in one dish.  If not start with a skillet and transfer to a casserole dish to bake. Keep the skillet handy because you will need it again to thicken the sauce.
4. Spanish recipes often use egg and almonds to thicken sauces as does this one.  So it is gluten free!
5. Use a dry sherry preferably Manzanilla or Amontillado or Oloroso all work.

Wine Pairing

Wine pairing can be a bit tricky when there is already sherry in the recipe.

We tried it with Sangre de Toro Rosé and it was a good neutral pairing.  Sangre de Toro Rosé is dry and smooth – not too fruity or sweet.

Unoaked Chardonnay is also good.  Try

I think a Chenin Blanc would also pair well. This one always gets rave reviews –

Sherried Chicken Thighs with Cinnamon and Saffron

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Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Spanish

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr 10 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 12 chicken thighs boneless, skinless
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion chopped fine
• 3 cloves garlic divided 2 tsps and remainder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup dry sherry
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 14.5 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes drain and chop finely
• 2 hardboiled eggs peeled with yolks and whites separated
• 1/2 cup toasted almond pieces
• pinch saffron threads
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley divided 1 + 1
• 1 1/2 tsps lemon juice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Heat oil in a large oven proof skillet. (If you have an oven proof skillet you can make this all in one dish. If not brown in a skillet and transfer to a casserole dish to bake).
• Pat the thighs dry and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Brown the thigh on both sides 5-6 minutes each side. Transfer thighs to a platter. If there is more than 2 tsps of fat in the skillet at the end drain off all but 2 tsps.
• Add the onion and 1/4 tsp salt to the skillet. Cook about 3 minutes. Add 2 tsps garlic, bay leaf, cinnamon and cook 1 minute.
• Add sherry and cook scraping up browned bits. Let sherry reduce to about half. Stir in broth and chopped tomatoes and return to simmer.
• Return thighs to the skillet, Cover skillet and bake 45 to 50 minutes. (If your skillet is not oven proof you will need to transfer everything to an oven proof casserole.)
• Finely chop the egg whites and set aside.
• When chicken is done remove bay leaf. Transfer the thighs to a platter and cover to keep warm. (Remove skin at this point if necessary).
• Take 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid, egg yolks, almonds, saffron and reserved garlic and add to blender. Blend about 2 minutes til smooth. Return almond mixture to the cooked chicken sauce. Add 1 Tbsp parsley and the lemon juice. Simmer while stirring til sauce thickens. 3-5 minutes.
• Adjust salt and pepper seasoning to taste. Pour sauce over the chicken. Garnish with remaining parsley and chopped egg white.

Notes