Braised Chicken Thighs with Spicy Kale

I bought myself a shiny new Cast Iron Enamel Dutch Oven for Christmas.  I was so excited to try it out.  I was putting away the Xmas decorations while "The Chew" was on the t.v., I saw Chef Michael Symon make a recipe that looked great (under 500 calories a serving) and decided I had to try it.  If you don't want it spicy then don't put the jalapeno in.  I like it spicy.  I don't know what 2 lbs. of Kale is, so I bought two organic bunches of it.  I bought some Organic Sourdough bread to serve with dinner for my son since he doesn't need to worry about carbs.

I followed the recipe "almost exactly" except I used Panko in place of the breadcrumbs for the topping.  I used 4 cloves of garlic instead of 2.  My package of chicken also had 8 thighs in it, but they were not large.    I also put it in the oven for 30 minutes instead of 20.

Since I call my son my "absent sous chef" and he is, I always do all my own prep work before I start cooking.  It works better than rushing around trying to do everything once I start.  I chopped all the veggies first and then measured out the wine and tomatoes.

Onions, Carrots, Jalapeno & Garlic

I just chopped the kale (stems removed) until I filled a plastic produce bag till almost full.  Big bunches these were!  This was just one bunch and 2 leaves from the other bunch.  It looked like enough - like what I think 2 lbs would look like.  But, I learned that next time I will use HALF that much.

Then I browned the chicken.  Next time I make this, I will brown it longer until it looks like fried chicken.

The veggies went in and I stirred for a couple of minutes.  Then the wine which I simmered down for 5 minutes, then the crushed tomatoes.  Then finally the kale, and chicken and then into the oven with the lid on.  Next time I would stir the kale into the mixture before putting the chicken on top.  On the show, they just plunked the kale in, put the chicken on top and put the lid on.  I think it should have been stirred first, mind you, that would have been a challenge with the amount of kale I had in that pot!

 I made the topping when the dutch oven went in.

When it was done, I took the chicken out of the pot, stirred all the veggies to mix in the kale.  I then plated veggies first, chicken and then the topping.  

This was really, really good!  The topping was key.  The lemon zest & parsley really picked up the flavors and made it over-the-top tasty.  The jalapeno gave it a terrific kick.  I loved it.  My two tips:  Use less kale and make browner chicken.