Chicken Thighs with Butter Beans

I needed to use up a couple of chicken thighs and some aging veggies hiding out in the crisper drawer. So, I made this. It did not disappoint. It's more of a "method" than an exact recipe and the way I prefer to cook. 

• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• Chicken seasoning of your choice (I use Bell's)
• Bacon fat
• Butter
• 1 leek, sliced, white part only
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced.
• 1 rib of celery, thinly sliced
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled, thinly sliced
• Dried thyme
• Salt and pepper
• Chicken stock (about 1/3 cup)
• Dry white wine (about 1/3 cup
• 1 can seasoned butter beans, rinsed and drained (I use Margaret Holmes brand)

Preheat your oven to 350-375 F.

Pat dry your chicken thighs. Sprinkle the underside with your choice of chicken seasoning, salt and pepper.

Add about 1 tablespoon each bacon fat and butter to a medium, heavy pan. When melted and hot, place thighs skin-side down. Lower heat to medium. Do not fiddle with them. When browned, carefully flip and brown other side. Remember, these will cook in the oven, so they do not need to be cooked through.

Remove thighs from pan. Add a bit more fat to the pan. Gently sautee your vegetables. Add chicken stock and wine, scraping up the brown bits. Allow to reduce a bit over medium low heat--until you no longer smell the alcohol in the wine. 

In the same pan or a casserole dish, layer the butter beans. Top with the vegetable mixture. Add a bit of salt, pepper, dried thyme. Tuck in the browned thighs. 

Cover and bake 45 minutes. Uncover. Bake another 10 minutes. If the tops are not as browned as you like, place under broiler. If you use the broiler, do not walk away and keep an eye on it the entire time.

Allow to cool a bit. Serve.

1. Notes: I buy my bacon fat. I used to get it over Amazon, but now one of my supermarkets carries it. The brand is called "Bacon Up" and I love it. It is triple filtered but retains the bacon taste.
2. Leeks bring a dish a lot of flavor. One could substitute shallots, even onions in a pinch.
3. To the wine/stock mixture, one could also add a bit of Half-and-Half or cream.