Chicken with mustard

1. Chicken Marinade: Combine the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Toss the chicken pieces in the marinade mixture, coating well. Set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet with a cover (or a Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until it’s just starting to brown. Remove bacon from pan in to a small bowl. Leave about 1 Tbsp. of bacon fat in the pan (or add a bit of olive oil if you used pancetta and there isn’t much fat). Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until soft. Stir in the thyme and let cook for a few minutes more. Remove onion to bowl with bacon.

3. Add a bit of olive oil to pan and heat. Add half the chicken to the pan (Don’t over-crowd. Cooking in two batches is best). Cook over medium-high heat until browned on one side, then flip over and brown the other side. Remove to a plate and cook the second batch, adding more olive oil, as necessary. Remove this batch to a plate, as well.

4. To the hot, empty skillet, add the wine and stir/scrape well to loosen the brown bits on the bottom. Return the chicken, bacon and onions to the pan. Cover and cook over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes, turning the chicken in the sauce a few times during cooking. Test chicken for doneness and cook a few more minutes, if necessary.

5. Remove chicken from pan to a serving plate. Stir grainy mustard and creme fraiche or heavy cream in to the sauce and stir just until heated through. (If sauce is too thick, you can thin with a little warm water). Spoon sauce over chicken and garnish with some thyme.

6. This dish is nice with pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.