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Crispy Braised Chicken With White Beans and Chile Verde

While I generally limit the repertoire of my explorations to existing dishes in the American and International canons, today we're going a bit off the map with a dish that's in part inspired by the chile verde of the American Southwest, and in part by the white chicken chili that, like some other iconic American comfort dishes, seems to have come from both nowhere and everywhere all at once.
We're taking the intensely rich, smoky, and hot chile sauce from the former, the comforting bean stew aspect of the latter, and adding to it my own personal touch: a perfectly braised piece of chicken; deep flavors, crisp skin, and all. If you're into heat, beans, and chicken, it's about as comforting a dish as you can hope for when the hot summer days start to slowly transition into cool fall evenings.
Servings: 4
Author: Serious Eats

Ingredients

  • 1 pound small white beans rinsed and picked over
  • kosher salt
  • 2 quarts low sodium chicken broth homemade or store-bought
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¾ pound Hatch chiles or Anaheim
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 chicken legs quarters
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large onion thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 4 medium cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
  • ½ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves plus more for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice from 1 lime, plus lime wedges to serve
  • sour cream or Mexican crema for serving

Instructions

Brine the beans:

  • Cover the white beans with 2 quarts of water.
  • Add 1 ½ tablespoons of salt and stir until dissolved.
  • Cover and let rest at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24.
  • Drain and rinse beans.

Cook the beans:

  • Place the beans in a large pot and add the chicken broth and 1 bay leaf.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally and topping up with water to keep the beans submerged until the beans are tender but still slightly firm in the center, about 45 minutes.
  • Drain the beans, reserving liquid in a large bowl.

Roast the chiles:

  • While beans cook, roast the chiles directly over an open gas flame until charred on all sides, about 5 minutes per chile or, broil the chiles on a rimmed baking sheet set 6 inches from the broiler element, turning until charred on all sides.
  • Transfer the roasted chiles to a covered bowl or a heavy paper bag. Keep sealed for 15 minutes to allow them to steam.
  • Transfer the steamed chiles to the bowl with drained bean cooking liquid.

Prepare the chiles and cooking liquid:

  • Peel and de-seed the chiles submerged under the bean cooking liquid. Transfer the flesh to a cutting board, leaving the charred skin and seeds behind.
  • Once all the chiles are peeled, carefully strain and reserve the liquid.
  • Discard the skins and seeds.
  • Roughly chop the chile flesh.
  • Set chopped chiles and liquid aside.

Brown the chicken:

  • Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F.
  • Heat the oil in a large straight-sided sautée pan over high heat until shimmering.
  • Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in the pan skin side-down.
  • Cook without moving until well browned on first side, about 8 minutes.
  • Flip and brown lightly on second side, about 4 minutes longer.
  • Transfer the chicken to a large plate.

Sautée the aromatics:

  • Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon until softened, about 6 minutes.
  • Add the cumin and coriander and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • Add the chopped chilies and reserved bean cooking/chili soaking liquid.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by ⅓, about 10 minutes.
  • Stir in the cilantro and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.
  • The sauce should be relatively thick. If it is watery, allow it to reduce until there is no water pooling at the top of the pan.

Purée the chiles:

  • Transfer contents to the jar of a blender, food processor, or a large bowl with a hand blender and pulse until roughly pureed.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Braise the chicken and serve:

  • Return the chile sauce to the sauté pan and stir in the cooked beans and remaining bay leaf.
  • Nestle the chicken into the beans leaving the skin exposed and transfer to the oven.
  • Cook, uncovered, until the chicken is completely tender and the skin is very crisp, and the beans are cooked through, about 45 minutes.
  • Sprinkle with extra cilantro and serve immediately with lime wedges and sour cream.