Smothered Chicken is one of the classic Soul Food, an ethnic cuisine that originated in the Southern United States in African American communities.
Fried chicken, collared greens, cornbread, black eyed peas, fried okra, macaroni and cheese. A typical soul food is anything smothered and cooked for a long time.
For the perfect tasting smothered dish, it has to have a generous amount of herbs and seasonings soul food is famous for. It is definitely not our daily quick “salt and pepper” food. This is the type of dish I'd make on a weekend when I don't have a bunch of errands to run.
I prefer thigh over breast and since my Husband like his chicken fried instead of "wet", this is one dish I make for myself. You should be able to use chicken breast but adjust the cooking time to prevent it from being too dried and hard.
INGREDIENTS
6-7 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
2 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp Creole or Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 small onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 Tbsp butter
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp parsley, divided
2 Tbsp oil
HOW TO
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Mix your seasoning in a bowl: garlic power, onion powder, paprika, oregano, Creole seasoning, chili powder, salt, pepper and chili flakes.
Use half of the seasoning to season your chicken thighs. Make sure to also rub it under the skin.
Mix the remaining seasoning with the flour. Dredge the chicken in flour and then shake the excess off.
Heat oil in a oven friendly skillet over medium high heat, put the chicken skin side down and fry for 4-5 minutes, or till it gets a nice golden brown sear. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Plate it out.
In the same skillet, add onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in garlic and give a stir for a minute.
Add butter and let it melt. Stir 4 Tbsp of remaining seasoned flour and keep on stirring till it gets slight brown color, about 2 minutes.
Slowly pour chicken broth slowly, whisking all the time, creating a gravy. Season it with 1/4 tsp of chili flakes for color.
Add cream and cook till it starts to thicken up.
Place chicken back in along with any juices, skin side up. Season with fresh parsley.
You can either continue to cook this on the stove top for another 35-45 minutes, covered, until the meat is fall off the bone or put it in the already preheated oven and bake covered for 1 hour. Uncover and bake an additional 5-6 minutes to give the skin some color.
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.