OMG - don't forget Sol's Caramel chicken!!!!!!! If you look through, I think just the previous WFD thread, she posted a pic. Of course, her pic will sell you quicker than mine will - lol. This stuff is to die for. YUMMMMMMM Chicken in Caramel Sauce - Sol This recipe is from the Washington Post, which adapted it from a recipe from the Slanted Door restaurant that appeared in a cookbook called The Secrets of Success: Signature Recipes and Insider Tips from San Frans Best Restaurants by Michael Bauer 1/2 C packed dark brown sugar 1/4 C water 1/4 C Asian fish sauce 3 T rice vinegar 1 tsp minced garlic 1 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp thinly sliced fresh ginger 1/2 to 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (1/2 usually enough for me) 2 small chili peppers, fresh or dried, halved (I always use fresh) 1 T canola oil 1 shallot thinly sliced 1 1/2 - 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat, cut into bite-size pieces (can use a combo of light and dark meat, if you prefer) In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, water, fish sauce, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, pepper, and chilis, and mix well. Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat (can also use a wok, but Ive had better luck w/a skillet). Add shallot and cook, stirring, until brown, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned on each side but not cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir the reserved sauce mixture and add to skillet. Bring mixture to boil, reduce heat to med-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced by about half and the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove and discard the chili peppers. Remove pan from heat, set aside until sauce has thickened and cooled slightly, about 3 minutes. Serve with rice. Note: This is traditionally a Vietnamese dish. If you havent cooked w/fish sauce before, youll notice that its pretty stinky before its cooked (!), but when the sauce is all together it gives it a really distinctive flavor that would be difficult to duplicate without it. Im able to get it in my local grocery store, but if you cant, then Asian markets will be sure to have it. The dish can be more spicy or less, depending what you do w/the pepper and chilis. If I want it less spicy, I remove all the seeds from the chilis before adding them to the sauce. This time, I left most of the seeds in, and it was very spicy. Probably theres a happy medium and it would be spicy enough w/about half the seeds. If you prefer it to be more sweet than spicy, remove all the seeds and use a bit less black pepper (even tho I like it spicy, I never need more than 1/2 tsp of pepper). ((One problem I have is that the chicken is usually done faster than the sauce is reduced. It doesnt particularly suffer as a result, but it would probably help if I used a larger skillet so the chicken could brown faster while cooking for a shorter time. )) I'm not sure whose note this is! Enjoy!

This is really good and the chicken gets so beautifully brown. All of the comments are Janets - when I have made this I throw it all in one pan and baste often to get the nice color - I don't separate the veggies from the chicken - its all thrown in together (and I only use chicken and white potatoes and sweet potatoes and shallots, not the other veggies) - just FYI. Thanks, Janet! Its a favorite here. Chances Mom/Janet Burnished Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potatoes, Parsnips and Shallots 3 tbsp olive oil 3 tbsp dijon mustard 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic salt and pepper 8 chicken thighs (I get them boned so they are easier to eat) 1 med large peeled sweet potato (I subbed 5 small potatoes quartered) cut into 1/2 inch pieces 4 med parsnips peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces 4 small shallots, peeled and halved thru root (I used at least 6) I also added 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces 3 strips bacon (I used pancetta diced)cooked and crumbled Stir together oil, mustard balsamic salt and pepper in large bowl, add chicken and toss. Marinate at least 1 hr and upto 8 hrs. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange chicken skin up on large rimmed baking sheet. At other end of sheet toss veggies with salt and pepper (I also added some butter). Roast 20 minutes, then baste chicken and stir veggies. Contine basting and stirring every 10 minutes. (I didn't do this just left it) When chicken is done, take veggies out and toss with 1/2 of the bacon , and transfer to serving platter, top with chicken and toss rest of bacon over. Because I used deboned thighs, I started the veggies about 15 minutes before adding the chicken and cooked the whole thing about and hour. The beauty of this dish is it can hold for quite a while without getting over done or dried out. Both times I made it when we had company and kind of forgot about it til it was time to eat. The chicken comes out a beautiful burnished brown and the veggies are sweet. Here is another favorite of ours - CHICKEN SAVOY 2 1/2- to 3-pound chicken, cut into 6 pieces (two drumsticks, two thighs, two breasts with wings) 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic 1 tablespoon dried oregano Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 6 to 8 teaspoons grated Locatelli or other Pecorino Romano cheese 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (preferably 7% acidity) In a 10 1/2-inch cast iron skillet or other heavy, oven-proof pan, arrange the chicken pieces skin side down and so that they do not touch each other. Sprinkle the chicken with garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and grated cheese, in that order. Place chicken in a preheated 500-degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and pour on all the vinegar at once. It should sizzle. Return the chicken to the oven for another minute or so. Arrange chicken on a platter and pour on the sauce created by the vinegar. Serve immediately. (Woodie's Note: I don't really use 500 degrees because my smoke alarm will go off, so I usually do 450 for 40-45 minutes, depends on which chicken pieces I'm using - we like dark meat the best. I also think that I use more vinegar, I don't measure, just pour it on, and I use any kind of vinegar, balsamic or red wine, doesn't really matter.)

Oh My Gawd. They are positively REVOLTING when you take them out of the package! I have them marinating right now and will cook them for dinner tonight (I'm making Chances Mom/Janet - Burnished Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potatoes, Parsnips and Shallots) but it is unlikely I will ever buy them again. I am even having trouble with the thought of ever making whole roast chicken again now that I know what those thighs look like...... THanks anyway for the ideas everyone - I will probably try them with breasts in the future since so many sound great. Alexa

Perfect timing! I was roasting garlic for bread today and thinking I should roast some extra garlic to make a chicken dish! What lovely recipe. Think I am going to try it out this weekend. Thanks!