Braised French Onion Chicken with Gruyere

It was one of our many rainy nights that this picture popped up in an email and I had to make it for dinner--go to:  The Kitchn  to see the picture of Faith Durand's original post you are going to want to make it also.  I first found this site from following Apartment Therapy great site for ideas and inspiration for any size home.  More of a design site and specific to some cities, but also has a cooking section.  The meal was perfect for the cold, damp night.  The sauce is a nice rich broth to form a stew consistency, I followed the recipe only changing the addition of mushrooms which I sauteed right after the onions in the same pan.  A slice of toasted bread to dip into the broth added to the hearty feel of this meal.  A side of roasted cauliflower which I roasted at the same time made it pretty simple which was a bonus.  A light side salad would be a great addition also, I think I'd like the fresh greens with the warm stew.  Here is my slightly adapted recipe:

Braised French Onion Chicken with Gruyere

Ingredients:

3 T butter
2 lbs onion, sliced ( I used 5 large Vidalia's sliced thin)
salt & pepper
1 lb fresh mushrooms
1 garlic clove chopped fine (she calls for 4 cloves sliced)
2 sprigs Thyme  
                                    >  I didn't have fresh herbs-- used about 1/2 tsp for each of dried  
4 inch sprig Rosemary  
2 C chicken broth
1 T balsamic vinegar
2 T Dijon mustard
3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (add some chicken breasts for the white meat eaters)
2 oz Gruyere Cheese, grated

Directions:

brown chicken

layer onions and mushrooms

This can all be done in separate pans if you want to get done faster.  In a large skillet melt the butter till it begins to foam then add all the sliced onion and let saute for about 40 min stirring occasionally.  When the onions begin to color a bit add the garlic, rosemary, & thyme continue to cook onions till you get that caramelized color----the more the better till just before burned.  Add 1 C chicken broth and deglaze pan scraping up bits from bottom, simmer a minute or so and then pour mixture into dutch oven or baking dish to cover bottom.  Return saute pan to burner and saute mushrooms till browned layer them on top onions.  Return pan to heat add some olive oil, salt & pepper chicken and brown on both sides, I did this in batches.  Lay chicken on top of mushrooms, add to saute pan the rest of the broth, the balsamic, and the Dijon whisk together and pour over chicken,  Put lid on dutch oven or wrap baking dish with heavy layer of aluminum foil.  Bake in 325° oven for 30 min.  Remove lid & top chicken with Gruyere and broil till cheese melts.  Serve in a bowl to allow for lots of sauce with a nice piece of toasted bread.  These directions are  condensed the original post goes into more detail if you'd like them go to The Kitchn .

The Gruyere melts quickly keep an eye on it.

Yum!