Directions
You can cook in pan or oven at the end. If you want to use the oven, preheat oven to 350 F.
Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, and brown on skin side only in a hot, large, deep saucepan. Remove and set aside.
Sweat off onion, garlic and fennel in the same pan. (Sweat off: a technique by which ingredients, particularly vegetables, are cooked in a small amount of fat over low heat. The ingredients are covered directly with a piece of foil or parchment paper, then the pot is tightly covered. With this method, the ingredients soften without browning, and cook in their own juices.)
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add apple juice and return to a boil. Stir in apples, thyme, bay leaves and saffron. Return chicken to the pan.
Simmer, cover and cook until chicken is done (approximately 20 minutes) or alternately bake, covered, in a 350 F oven until chicken is done. Season to taste. Serve over rice.
Ingredients
12 chicken thighs, bone-in
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 granny smith apples, sliced
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped.
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup apple cider
4 sprigs thyme, fresh
4 bay leaves
pinch saffron
to taste sea salt
to taste black pepper, ground
2 cups wild rice, cooked