Vinegar-Braised Chicken Thighs with Crisped Morels and Maitakes

I've been jealous of friends posting photos of their morel hunts. Seriously, friends have posted photos of entire pick-up beds full of morels. I would be thrilled with just two cups. Really!

So, when I saw a scant handful of them at the market, I scooped them all up! It really wasn't enough to make a complete dish with them, but I added in the maitakes that I had on-hand. This was an easy lunch and so, so tasty. I will have to track down more morels soon.

Ingredients serves 6 to 8

Chicken

• 6 to 8 bone-in, skin-on organic chicken thighs
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 C white balsamic vinegar
• olive oil for drizzling

Crisped Mushrooms

• 1 to 2 C mushrooms (I used morels and maitakes)
• 1 T butter
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 2 T fresh parsley, chopped

Procedure

Chicken
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place chicken in a baking dish. Rub with garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour white balsamic vinegar over the top, then drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the pre-heated oven for 40 minutes, or until chicken is browned and crisp and cooked through.

Crisped Mushrooms
Melt butter in a large, flat-bottom pan. When the butter begins to brown, lay your mushrooms in the pan. Let the mushrooms brown and crisp. Flip the mushrooms and crisp them on the other side. Only after they are crisp should you season them. Adding salt when they are cooking will lead to soggy mushrooms. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold in parsley right before serving.

To Serve
Lay a chicken thigh on individual plates and top with crisped mushrooms. Serve immediately.