Osso Buco Chicken

I thought I remembered where I came across this Osso Buco Chicken recipe, but I don't. 

I do know that wherever I found it, it said that it came from one of the Cooking Light magazines. I thought it sounded wonderful, so of course I had to try it. 

And I was right.

The original recipe served the chicken with polenta, which sounded really good, but I didn't have any so I served mine over Cream Cheese Garlic Potatoes. 

I made regular mashed potatoes using some 2% condensed milk and about 1/4 cup of the Philly Cheese cooking creme (Savory Garlic flavor). A rather tasty shortcut.

I did go ahead and include the polenta recipe because, 

who doesn't need a good polenta recipe!

Doesn't this make you all warm inside? A nice plate of comfort!

 The only thing disappointing  about the meal was...I forgot the gremolata.

I know....the recipe even said "DO NOT LEAVE OFF THE GREMOLATA". 

Evidently it just puts it over the top delicious! 

I will be making it again.

Next time I think I'm gonna try the polenta, and of course.... not forget the gremolata!

Osso Buco Style Chicken

Chicken:

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

6 chicken thighs (about 2 pounds), skinned

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups chopped onion

3/4 cup cubed carrot

3/4 cup coarsely chopped celery

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup dry white wine

5 cups chopped tomato (about 2 pounds)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Polenta:

2 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 cup uncooked instant polenta

3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fresh Gruyère cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

Gremolata:

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation

To prepare chicken, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and 2 garlic cloves. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, tomato, basil, and rosemary; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 15 minutes.

Return chicken to pan. Cover and simmer 35 minutes or until chicken is done. Uncover and cook 5 minutes or until tomato mixture thickens.

To prepare polenta, combine milk and broth in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; gradually add instant polenta, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

To prepare gremolata, combine parsley, zest, and 1 garlic clove. 

Serve chicken mixture over polenta; sprinkle with gremolata.

Note: Chicken thighs stand in well for veal shanks in osso buco; their higher fat content, compared to other chicken parts, lets them hold up to long cooking or braising.