Pan-Seared Chicken Thighs with Shallots and Spinach

What a weekend!  On Friday I went on a 6 1/2 mile hike called Heart of the Park with my friend Carrie in Forest Park, we were lucky that the rain held off the whole day otherwise it would have been super muddy. Eugene was amazing as usual, I got to eat tomato cheese soup at one of my favorite spots, The Glenwood.  On Saturday night my boyfriend's parents took us out to Beppe and Gianni's for a fancy birthday dinner, I got the Cappelli Di Vescovo: (bishop hats) Fresh handmade pasta stuffed with swiss chard, prosciutto, ricotta and parmesan cheese in a brown-butter sage sauce.  The food was super delicious and the atmosphere was friendly. On Sunday I hung out with a very good friend and her family, we made a delicious soup and talked away the rainy afternoon. (Below is a picture of her baby Oscar and I).  In other news I am pretty excited for St. Patrick's day, I love cooking traditional and non-traditional foods for this holiday.  We are having a couple friends over and I can't wait to share with you what I am making, until then Happy St. Patty's day!  I adapted this recipe and followed this recipe for the chicken cooking and it came out great!

Serves 2

The Ingredients
4 chicken thighs
1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
4 shallots, thinly sliced
1/3 cup white wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 package (10 ounces) fresh spinach
1/4 cup plain yogurt
salt and pepper


The Process
1.  Preheat oven to 475°. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12" cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Nestle chicken in skillet, skin side down, and cook 2 minutes.

2.  Reduce heat to medium-high; continue cooking skin side down, occasionally rearranging chicken thighs and rotating pan to evenly distribute heat, until fat renders and skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.


3.  Transfer chicken to a oven safe dish and put in oven and cook 13 more minutes. Flip chicken; continue cooking until skin crisps and meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.

4.  While chicken is cooking in oven use the same skillet, cook and stir shallots until tender. Add wine; bring to a boil. Cook until wine is reduced by half. Add spinach and salt; cook and stir just until spinach is wilted. Stir in yogurt; serve with chicken.