Braised Chicken Thighs with Olives, Capers, and Lemon

This was something I threw together over winter last year, but have made many times since then.
It seems nice in those colder months- maybe fall to early spring. Not too heavy, but lots of flavor and a bit of color (just add parsley if you want a pop of green).
However, it’s completely non-seasonal. All the items (to me, anyway) are pantry items, so this is easily put together... perhaps after a run to the store for the chicken.

But it can be a little something more based on what you use, of course. This last round I had some Herbes de Provence olives I'd found at the olive bar at the store, which were a plus.
Just make sure you get a bit of the brine if you pick up olives and capers at the bar in lieu of using a jar.

It's important to make sure you don't use a pan that's too small so that everything is jammed in together- and the chicken ends up being practically covered in the wine. The point is partially to have some space to allow for evaporation so everything is able to reduce...
And reduction is a very good reason to make sure the wine is "nice enough" as far as beverages go. It doesn't have to be dear, just drinkable ("awful" sadly will not improve with concentration).

Also, having made it enough, I can safely say that you do want to make sure the chicken is seasoned. Don't make the mistake of thinking the olives and capers will be salty enough to take care of everything else.

As a suggestion, I think it's nice with a kale salad with a lemon vinaigrette (garlic in the vinaigrette, a shower of Parmesan on top), and served the chicken with roasted cauliflower and quinoa (great for soaking up the juices).
Extra kale, cauli, quinoa, chicken, capers/olives/shallots, jammy lemon and sauce? Leftovers make a great bowl for lunch the next day. Ta-da.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Olives, Capers, and Lemon
serves 6 (... or 3)

6 chicken thighs (skin on and bone in)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 c (180 ml) white wine
1 c (180 g) pitted green olives
1 1/2 T (22 ml) olive brine
3 large shallots, sliced
1 1/2 lemons, cut into sixths
3 T (45 g) capers in brine
1 1/2 T (22 ml) caper brine
3 T (45 ml) olive oil


Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
Trim extra fat and skin from the chicken thighs, then salt and pepper both sides of the chicken as you would normally.
Pour the white wine into a 9x13 inch pan along with the olive and caper brines. Add the chicken, skin side up. Sprinkle the olives, capers, and shallots around and between the chicken pieces. Tuck the lemon slices in among chicken, then drizzle everything with the olive oil. 
Cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Place the pan in the oven and braise the chicken 45 minutes.
Remove the foil and increase the oven temp to 425 F (218 C) for 10 minutes.
Broil 5 minutes or so if the top of the chicken needs a bit of rendering and color. 

Remove the pan from the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving with the braising sauce.