Skillet Chicken with Green Onions and Ramps

By blum099

autéed chicken is a basic dish that every cook should have in his or her repertoire. It's the essence of easy—the chicken pieces are seasoned with plenty of garlic and herbs, then cooked in a skillet with butter and a little wine until the skin turns golden and caramelized and the meat starts to fall off the bone. It's faster and more forgiving than roasted whole chicken, and far more elegant than broiling or baking, without any additional work.

You can flavor a skillet chicken with almost any herbs, vegetables, and aromatics that you have around. In spring, I always use green onions, mostly because in spring I use green onions for everything. I spend all winter long dreaming of their juicy sweetness and crisp bite, and when the first pale bulbs appear at the market, I fill my basket. They last for weeks in the refrigerator if you wrap them in a damp towel before nestling them in the vegetable bin. Then use them wherever you'd use regular onions, especially raw in salads, where their mellow flavor won't overwhelm the delicacy of tender spring lettuces.

In this recipe, I've paired the onions with their pungent cousins: ramps, which look like a cross between a scallion and lily of the valley. They grow wild in damp woodland, emerging from the ground just before spring has really sprung. Scallions, by the way, make a fine substitute if you can't find ramps.

Don't let that be the only substitution you make in this recipe. Use it often, seasoning the chicken with whatever vegetables are in season. Just make sure to include something pungent (ramps, garlic, shallots, ginger) along with something supple and juicy (other kinds of onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, summer squash, eggplant, even peppers will work).

Likewise Cornish hens or pheasant make a less obvious stand in for the chicken. Duck works, too, though you need to de-grease the pan after browning or the sauce will suffer (save the duck fat for frying potatoes or Brussels sprouts).

Now that you've got your basic sautéed chicken recipe, feel free not to follow it. This is where the fun begins.

Ingredients

• (3-pound) chicken or 2 (1 1/2-pound) Cornish hens, cut into pieces, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus additional
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small bunch fresh thyme
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
• 4 small spring onions, rinsed and patted dry
• 1 bunch ramps (3 to 4 ounces), rinsed and patted dry
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup not-too-dry white wine (a Riesling works well here)

Preparation

Step 1

1.Place the chicken or Cornish hen in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Add the thyme and garlic and toss well. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand 30 minutes.
2.Trim off hairy bottoms of onions and ramps. Remove dark green onion tops and discard. Remove dark green ramp leaves; thinly slice and reserve. Halve the spring onion bulbs lengthwise and thinly slice crosswise. Chop the ramp bulbs into 1/4-inch lengths.
3.Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet with a cover over medium heat. Add the onions and ramp bulbs. Cook over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Scrape mixture into a bowl.
4.Return skillet to medium heat. Add the poultry, thyme, and garlic to the pan. Cook, without moving the hen, 10 minutes. Flip the chicken or hen pieces, cover the pan, and cook until breasts are nearly done but still slightly pink in the center (they will finish cooking as they rest), 12 to 15 minutes more. Transfer breasts to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Cover pan and cook until thighs are almost cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.
5.Uncover pan and add the onion mixture. Pour in the wine and simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet, until the liquid thickens and thighs are cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Return breasts to skillet. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the ramp greens. Cook 1 minute. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary and serve.
If you are a dark meat fan, feel free to use all drumsticks and thighs for this recipe.

If you can’t get ramps and green onions, substitute scallions and red onions. They might take an extra few minutes to cook. Just make sure they are very soft before scraping them into a bowl.

Lemon thyme is a heady, fragrant substitute for the regular thyme if you can get it.

In case you were wondering, a Cornish hen is a type of chicken bred to be smaller, plumper, and mature more quickly than a regular chicken. They usually run between 1 and 2 pounds, and one bird serves one to two people (one person quite amply, two people more modestly, but still adequately if you’re generous with the side dishes). With their squat little legs, Cornish hens are all about the breasts, perfect for white meat lovers.





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