Cranberry Hoisin Chicken

Over the weekend, Ernie and I saw Ming Tsai at a cooking demo during the New York City Wine & Food Festival.  He was so charming and funny and warm and approachable that we would see him over and over again. The demo flew by, and just seemed so short. During his demo he made a few dishes from his new book Simply Ming One Pot Meals. One of the dishes he made was this Cranberry-Hoisin Chicken. It looked so simple. It smelled so delicious. I had no choice but to make it as soon as I gathered all the ingredients together!

These are the recipes that are being shown now on Ming’s East Meets West, the recipes should begin to be posted online, but buy the book (as he would say, his kids need to go to college!) I wanted the book then and there! As luck would have it, after the demo someone stood in the lobby with a sign saying Ming would be signing his new book in 15 minutes. We ran over, bought the book, had him sign it and were off to the races. The photographs are absolutely beautiful. Every recipe has a photograph (I absolutely love that in a cookbook). There are no ridiculous ingredients. The recipes are approachable and home cook friendly.

The nice thing about this dish, compared to so many recipes that claim to be one-pot meals, is that this truly is all in one pot. It is so simple and quick to put together. Folks in my house were walking through the kitchen and saying, ‘WOW, that smells really good. When is dinner?’ (Not that they don’t do this on a regular basis, but these were new enticing aromas!)

• 2 tbl grapeseed or canola oil
• 8 chicken thighs, skin on
• kosher salt & pepper
• 2 tbl minced garlic
• 2 bunches scallions, sliced, save 1/4 cup of green scallions for garnish
• 2 cups jasmine rice
• 1/4 c hoisin sauce
• 1 c red wine
• 1 c fresh cranberries
• 3 c chicken stock

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Choose an oven-proof casserole with a tight lid. Place over medium-high heat and add the oil, swirling to cover bottom. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and sautee all sides to golden brown. Should take about 8 minutes. Don’t crowd the casserole, sautee the chicken in batches in necessary. Remove from casserole and set aside.

Add the scallions and garlic to the tasty chicken fat, and sauté for about a minute. Add the rice, and sautee, stirring, for 1 minute. Add, the hoisin sauce and sautee for 30 seconds.

Add the red wine, deglaze, making sure to scrape up all the brown bits, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by 3/4 of the amount – about 2 minutes.  Add the cranberries and stock and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken back into the casserole, bring to a simmer, cover and transfer to oven for 20-30 minutes.

NOTES: And although a certain someone kept blaming his assistant for missing wine and missing garnish, add the chopped scallion greens to the top – it looks pretty and adds another flavor layer!

There are no notes, no changes. This is perfect just the way it is. The tangy cranberries play against the richness from the wine and the sweetness from the hoisin sauce. Leaving the fat in the casserole to toast the rice in makes the rich that much more flavorful. I definitely need a bigger covered dish or pot to do this in, but the smaller one didn’t do anything negative to the outcome. This will be a staple in our house for years to come!