Wine-Braised Chicken with Pearl Onions

The church hospitality committee met this week to plan the Thanksgiving feast, and I am on that committee the way the sun is in the sky — permanently, centrally, and nobody questions it. Pastor Williams asked me to chair the food coordination for the fifteenth year in a row, and I accepted with the same grace I always do, which is to say I said, "Of course," like there was any other possible answer.

We're feeding 150 people at the community Thanksgiving dinner. This is the one where anyone can come — church members, neighbors, folks who don't have anywhere else to go. We serve turkey, ham, dressing, greens, mac and cheese, yams, rolls, and pie. Lots of pie. I coordinate twenty-two cooks, and I assign dishes based on who's good at what, because this is not a potluck. This is a production. Nobody brings whatever they feel like. You bring what I tell you to bring, and you bring it right.

Sister Mae — my co-chair, no relation to my middle name, just a beautiful coincidence — she handles the logistics: tables, plates, napkins, the volunteer signup. I handle the food. We are a perfect team because she doesn't try to cook and I don't try to organize. We stay in our lanes. The church has never once run out of food on Thanksgiving. Not once. I consider this my greatest professional achievement, including thirty-three years of school lunches.

At home, Earl is in his fall mood, which is the closest thing Earl Henderson gets to cheerful. He likes the cooler air. His breathing is easier. He went for a walk around the block on Wednesday — the whole block, without stopping — and came back looking pleased with himself in a way that broke my heart a little, because a walk around the block shouldn't be an accomplishment for a man who used to mow the lawn and fix the roof and carry me over the threshold. But it is. And I told him I was proud of him, and I meant it the way I mean everything — with my whole chest.

Made chicken perloo — a Lowcountry rice dish that's like a cousin of jambalaya but quieter, more subtle. Chicken, rice, celery, onion, tomato, thyme, and the broth from the chicken itself, everything cooked together until the rice absorbs every flavor. Mama used to make it on Mondays with the Sunday chicken carcass. Nothing wasted. Nothing ever wasted.

Now go on and feed somebody.

The perloo I described above isn’t one I can hand you in a tidy recipe card — it lives in the bones of memory, the Sunday carcass, the Monday morning instinct. But if you want to build that same kind of flavor, the slow patience of chicken cooked down in its own good liquid until everything softens and deepens, this Wine-Braised Chicken with Pearl Onions is the place to start. Earl got his walk. The church will get its feast. And you — you get this.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks work best)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup frozen pearl onions, thawed (or 1 cup fresh pearl onions, blanched and peeled)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

Season and sear. Pat chicken pieces dry with paper towels and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken skin-side down and sear without moving for 5–6 minutes, until the skin is deep golden brown. Flip and sear the other side for 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add pearl onions and celery to the same pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to color at the edges, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste, stirring constantly for 1 minute until the paste darkens slightly and smells fragrant.
Deglaze with wine. Pour in the white wine, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let the wine reduce by half, about 3 minutes.
Add broth and braise. Pour in the chicken broth. Add thyme and bay leaf. Nestle the seared chicken pieces back into the pan skin-side up, making sure the liquid comes about halfway up the chicken but does not submerge the skin. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook low and slow. Reduce heat to low, partially cover the pan, and braise for 35–40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and pulls easily from the bone. An instant-read thermometer should register 165°F at the thickest part.
Finish the sauce. Remove the bay leaf. Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Increase heat to medium-high and reduce the braising liquid for 3–4 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and swirl in the butter until melted and glossy. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve. Spoon the pearl onions and sauce over the chicken and finish with fresh parsley. Serve alongside white rice or crusty bread to catch every drop of that broth.

Nutrition (per serving)

Wine-Braised Chicken with Pearl Onions — The Closest Thing to Mama’s Monday Perloo