Name: Braised Chicken with Preserved Lemon, Green Olives and Bay
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 55 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Ingredients: 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 lb); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced; 4 garlic cloves, smashed; 2 bay leaves; 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly cracked; 1/2 preserved lemon, rind only, finely chopped; 1 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives; 1 cup dry white wine; 1 cup chicken stock; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; A small handful of flat-leaf parsley, to serve

There is a particular kind of recipe that justifies the existence of a heavy pot — the kind you put on the stove early in the afternoon and stop thinking about until it is time to set the table. This is one of them. Bone-in chicken thighs, browned hard in olive oil, then left to settle into a quiet bath of white wine, stock, garlic, preserved lemon and green olives. After an hour and change, the meat is yielding, the sauce is bright and savory, and the kitchen smells the way you wanted it to smell.

A few notes before you start. Use bone-in, skin-on thighs — boneless will be dry by the end. Castelvetrano olives are the right olive here; they are buttery and mild, and won't shout over the lemon. If you can find preserved lemon at a Middle Eastern grocer or co-op, it is worth the small investment for a jar. Otherwise, the zest of one fresh lemon plus a teaspoon of capers gets you most of the way there.

This is a dish that improves on the second day. Make it Saturday, eat it Sunday; reheat it gently in a low oven covered with foil.

Ingredients

Serves 4

8bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 lb)
2 tbspolive oil
1 largeyellow onion, halved and sliced
4garlic cloves, smashed
2bay leaves
1 tspcoriander seeds, lightly cracked
½preserved lemon, rind only, finely chopped
1 cuppitted Castelvetrano olives
1 cupdry white wine
1 cupchicken stock
to tastekosher salt and freshly ground pepper
a handfulflat-leaf parsley, to serve

Equipment. A 5- to 7-quart enameled cast-iron pot with a lid is what we used; any heavy, oven-safe pot with a tight lid will do.

Method

Season and brown. Pat the chicken thighs dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat. Brown the thighs skin-side down in batches, undisturbed, for 7 to 8 minutes until deeply golden. Turn, brown the other side for 2 minutes, then transfer to a plate.
Build the base. Pour off all but two tablespoons of fat from the pot. Lower the heat to medium and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and just beginning to color, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, bay and coriander; cook one more minute, until fragrant.
Deglaze. Pour in the wine and scrape up everything stuck to the bottom of the pot — this is where most of the flavor lives. Let the wine reduce by about half, around 4 minutes.
Braise. Return the chicken to the pot skin-side up. Add the stock, preserved lemon and olives; the liquid should come about halfway up the chicken. Bring to a bare simmer, partially cover, and cook over low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the meat is tender enough to lift away from the bone with a spoon.
Finish. Uncover, raise the heat slightly, and let the sauce reduce for 10 to 15 minutes to a glossy braising liquid that lightly coats the back of a spoon. Taste, adjust salt, scatter parsley on top, and bring the pot to the table.

The longer the chicken sits in its sauce, the better it gets. We almost always make it a day ahead.

Notes & substitutions

No preserved lemon? Use the zest of one fresh lemon and a teaspoon of rinsed capers, added in step 4.
White wine. Anything dry and unoaked — pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, dry vermouth. Avoid anything labeled "cooking wine."
To serve. Crusty bread is non-negotiable. A peppery green salad and a glass of the same wine you cooked with completes the meal.
Leftovers. Refrigerate in the cooking liquid for up to three days. Reheat gently, covered, in a 300°F oven for 25 minutes.