My New Favourite: Creamy Fennel Chicken cooked in Bacon Grease and Smothered in Cheese.

I know it’s been a while, but I haven’t been sitting around doing nothing! It’s been a cross-training year for some of our staff, which made for a very hectic summer, and then, after all the staff were finally settling in, Fall included our big anniversary sale right after Thanksgiving. So yes, I’ve been incredibly busy. But this week, things have finally slowed down a little, and I was so excited have a little bit of that Time people keep talking about, and I was looking forward to make one of my favourite recipes for dinner. As usual, though, I ended up substituting a few things and stumbled into a brand-new version that I think is even better than my old one!

It all started in the garden. Last year, I grew a fennel plant entirely by accident. I think this actually started because I bought a fennel bulb for a salad (you just shred it into a lettuce salad and add a ton of pizzaz!) in the spring. When I finished using it, I threw the leftover piece into the compost. Later in the spring, I noticed it was still growing, so I pulled it out of the compost and planted it in the vegetable garden properly. Well, let me tell you, that sucker ended up having about a million babies this year! Apparently, when fennel plants go to seed (which mine did, because I never seem to get around to harvesting them or properly trimming everything back in time), those seeds scatter everywhere. They come up all over your gardens, including right in the middle of your flower beds. I was finding fennel absolutely everywhere! I decided to let some of it grow because it’s actually quite pretty.

Anyway, long story short, I clipped some fresh Fennel fronds out of my garden, and started with that. I had posted a creamy fennel chicken recipe few years ago, so I hunted that up today, and then, as usual when I have a bit of that elusive Time,  I took it up a notch.

TAKING IT UP A NOTCH

The basic premise of the recipe is that you want to fry your chicken thighs in butter. However, today’s major upgrade was bacon grease. I happened to be making some bacon bits for my chilli recipe that I was prepping for our dinner tonight, and the frying pan had a fair bit of beautiful grease left in the bottom, so I just fried up my chicken right in it. Pretty sure that wouldn’t hurt anything. Once I browned them beautifully on both sides, I threw them right into a 9×13 casserole dish.

Next up, I sautéd my vegetables. This time, I did a mix of onions, garlic, and garlic scapes. Again, because of the garden, I usually end up with a fair bit of garlic scapes that I just chop up and throw into my freezer. Today, I grabbed a handful of those and fried them right up with my fresh garlic and onions in the same pan and grease that I cooked your chicken in. That way, I get all those delicious, caramelized bits of crusty chicken, bacon, and grease working together. Once everything was soft and caramelizing a bit, I spread them evenly over top of my chicken in the baking dish.

Now for the fun part!

The recipe I tweeked a long time ago asked for white wine as the base, but sadly, I simply didn’t have any wine on hand. No smart alec-y comments, please. I haven’t been entertaining much in the past year or so, for various reasons, so just didn’t have any. That’s it. Anyway, I did have some bouillon cubes, so I just quickly made two into a cup and a half of beef bouillon.  Yes, Beef Bouillon with Chicken Thighs. Crazy, right? But really, I really think the beef tastes much better with the onions, and other flavour profiles going on in this recipe. So that’s my second upgrade.  You do you. I’ll do me.

So, I poured the bouillon into the fry pan, being careful to also scrape the bottom of the pan so I got all that incredible stuck-on deliciousness mixed directly into the broth. Then, I added some cream. Maybe about a cup, but of course, I didn’t measure, there was a partial in the fridge, so I just used it up. (If you don’t have cream, you could in theory use milk, because if you make this, you will be thickening it up later anyway).

Gouda MMMM.

I used a whisk to make sure everything was completely incorporated. Next, of course, I had to add some cheese. My usual go-to favourite is the caramelized onion cheese that we sell out of our cheese bar, but today I had some Gouda on hand. It was getting just a little bit ‘on the edge,’ so I trimmed off the rough part, chopped up the rest as finely as I could with a knife, and slowly added it to my cream mixture over medium heat. I kept whisking the whole time over low heat until the cheese melted completely smooth and creamy. Gouda might not be an “upgrade” over Caramelized Onion Cheddar, but it was definitely a lateral move. Also had a tiny bit of shredded cheddar in the fridge, so I threw that in as well so it wouldn’t get to that “over the edge” stage.

At this stage, I made a bit of a cornstarch slurry with a bit of the cream still in the carton and a bit of water. There are all sorts of ways to thicken a good cream sauce. But this is my favourite and pretty simple. At the point when the cheese was all melted, but the sauce is still kinda sitting on top of the melty cheese, and it’s still medium-low heat, I pour the slurry in while quickly whisking, and it turned instantly smooth and thick. It is so incredibly easy. I don’t have to worry about anything separating or getting lumpy, which can happen if your heat is too high, by the way. Everything worked out absolutely beautifully!

So, that’s about it – I just pour the cheese sauce over the chicken and veggies in the casserole dish, and then let it cool so I can freeze it for an easy freezer meal another day. I’ll likely have one of my boys cook up some rice to go with it, and they can handle baking it after I leave clear instructions on the foil cover.

Recipe & Instructions

8- 10 boneless chicken thighs  (I used 2 lb skinless, this time, but the skin on is also amazing)
Bacon grease (reserved from making bacon bits) No idea how much it was, so if you are just using some bacon grease from your fridge, you do you.
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Handful or two garlic scapes, chopped up (fresh or frozen)
maybe 4 or 5 sprigs of garden fennel fronds, chopped fine
1½ cups chicken or beef broth (or bouillon)
1 cup-ish cream (or whole milk)
Gouda or caramelized onion cheese, finely shredded or minced
Cheese thickening  cornstarch/flour slurry)
Rice or Noodles

Heat the bacon grease in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken thighs and sear until browned on both sides. Lay the chicken into a 9×13 casserole dish and set aside.

In the same skillet with the remaining bacon grease and pan drippings, add the onion, garlic, and garlic scapes. Sauté over medium heat until soft, fragrant, and tender crisp, maybe even caramelizing a little bit.

Evenly spread the sautéed vegetable mixture and the chopped fresh fennel over top of the chicken thighs in the casserole dish.

Pour the chicken or beef broth into the hot skillet. Use a whisk to scrape up all the delicious browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Reduce the heat to low, then pour in the milk or cream and whisk to combine. Slowly add the finely shredded cheese a little at a time, whisking continuously until melted as smooth as you can

Make a Cornstarch Slurry with a tbsp of cornstarch mixed into 1/4 cup of cold milk, water or cream. Pour into the centre of the sauce and whisk immediately. The sauce will almost instantly turn thick and smooth without separating. Remove from heat.

Pour the cheese sauce evenly over the chicken and vegetables in the baking dish.

 

You can cool and freeze it at this point, or bake at 350°F (190°C) for 40-45 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F) and the sauce is bubbling. Serve hot over rice or pasta