Creamy Chicken

This is a tasty chicken dish that’s served on a bed of white rice. It’s grown-up adult food, but children devour it. People usually have seconds and thirds at a meal. Creamy Chicken rules.

I usually make Creamy Chicken using leftover meat and skin from cooking Tasty Baked Chicken Thighs for dinner a few nights beforehand. You can cook fresh chicken to make Creamy Chicken, it will just take longer.

Ingredients

1. Bone-in or boneless chicken thighs (I prefer bone-in, it’s cheaper and tastier. Hello.)
2. White rice (I almost always use Indian Basmati rice from Whole Foods. It’s not cheaper, but super tasty.)
3. 1 tbs of butter
4. 3 cloves of garlic, minced
5. 1 tsp thyme
6. 1 cup of chicken broth
7. 1 cup of heavy cream or half-and-half
8. A little white wine (optional)
9. 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Make your rice first. I usually cook 1 cup of rice.
2. In a frying pan, either heat up your leftover chicken on low, or cook fresh chicken in the pan. If cooking fresh, shake salt and pepper on both sides of the chicken, put heat on medium, and cook skin side down for 6 minutes, flip over, and cook the other side for 6 minutes. When the leftover chicken is warm throughout, or the fresh chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and put it in a bowl, but do not clean the pan. When cool, break the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
3. Put the 1 tbs of butter in the pan, and start to melt it on medium-low.
4. When the butter is melted, add the 3 cloves of minced garlic, then add 1 tsp of thyme. Only let it cook like this for 45-seconds to a minute. Just until the garlic starts to sizzle.
5. Add the 1 cup of chicken broth, and if you have white wine, add a 1/4 cup or more.
6. Let it cook like this for a few minutes, and use a utensil or a wooden spoon to scrape the chicken residue off of the base of the pan. This adds tastiness.
7. Add the 1 cup of heavy cream or half-and-half.
8. Let it simmer and cook for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. Add the 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Stir, and let it cook for 5 more minutes. Taste a sample, and if needed, season to your liking.
10. Add the chicken. Let the sauce warm the chicken up for a minute or two.
11. You’re done. Turn off the burner. Put a pile of rice in the middle of a plate and spoon the creamy chicken onto the rice, and drizzle some sauce over the rice, too. Grate some fresh parmesan cheese on top and serve.