Makeshift Fire
Break out the cast irons and a smoke gun for a hearty faux-fiery dish.
Stoney Hill’s pizza, desserts, and Italian sodas need no altering. Since these delights are stellar stand-alones, we’re crafting a separate dish this week to celebrate the transition to shorter days, flannel (obviously), and a very different atmosphere on the island. Inspired by the wood-fired oven but lacking the equipment, we tried to emulate the smoky, thoroughly roasted flavor using cast irons and a smoking gun. We hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did!
Cast Iron Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
4-5 chicken thighs bone in, skin on
1 shallot sliced
1 apple (baking variety) ex: gala, empire, granny smith, jonagold
2 tbsp butter divided
½ cup white wine dry
1 cup red grapes
4-5 fresh sage leaves
salt and pepper to season chicken before searing
2 bunches beets, with greens
olive oil
sea salt/fresh ground pepper
¼ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 ounces goat cheese
Directions
For the Chicken Thighs:
Preheat oven to 400°
Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towel, and season generously with salt and pepper.
Melt 1 tbsp of butter in cast iron over medium high heat. Sear Chicken thighs in batches beginning skin side down. Sear until both sides are golden brown. Repeat and set aside.
On medium heat, add shallots saute until softened, about 2 minutes.
Deglaze cast iron with white wine, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Add herbs, apple slices, grapes and remaining tbsp of butter. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Return chicken to skillet and nestle into fruit and pan sauce.
Slide cast iron into oven to roast for 20-25 minutes.
Serve chicken with roasted apples and grapes.
For the Smoked Beet Salad:
Remove beets from their stems and greens. Thoroughly clean, then peel and cut the beets in either wedges or large cubes. Fine chop the stems. Rough chop the greens.
Place the beets and chopped stems in a steamer. Steam 15 minutes before adding the greens. Continue steaming until the beets are tender but firm.
While the beets steam, set up your smoking gun (according to manufacturers instructions), insert the smoking gun tube in the pan with the beets. Don't constrict the tube. I let the lid rest on top of the tube, and place a towel over the slightly open side to keep more smoke in the pan. Continue smoking the beets until the wood shavings are spent.
Remove to a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Gently toss in the toasted walnuts and crumbled goat cheese.