Red Wine Braised Chicken Thighs

I wanted something somewhat healthy for dinner last night, and something cheap. It was a little cold, so I thought chicken thighs braised in red wine would be perfect and warm and tasty. My grocery run cost $5.06 (for 5 chicken thighs and a big leek) and it fed two of us for dinner and lunch the next day. Letting the red wine and broth cook down makes the sauce so flavorful. I served it over some Israeli couscous just because that's what I had on hand, but this would be great on polenta or mashed potatoes too. The whole process took an hour, and most of that was just braising/cooking down, so it's totally doable for a week night. Of course, feel free to add other veggies if you want it to be more coq au vin style, but this is simple, tasty, and cheap.

Ingredients:
5 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)
1 large leek, rinsed and sliced into 1/4 inch rings
5 cloves garlic, crushed

1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 cup red wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 small eggplant, sliced (only if you have it - I had one from my garden I needed to use)
salt and pepper
1/2 tbsp butter
olive oil

Directions:

Melt the butter and a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet and let it get pretty hot. Salt and pepper the chicken and add, skin side first, to pan to sear. (Don't overcrowd the pan, you probably have to do two batches.) Cook them for about 2-3 minutes each side until the skin is golden brown and the bottom has a good sear too.

Remove the chicken and pour out all but enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the leeks and the eggplant and saute. Then add the garlic cloves.

Stir until starting to soften, then add the wine, thyme, and bay leaf. Let the wine cook down for about a minute, then add the chicken broth. Nestle the chicken back into the skillet, skin side down, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and cook down the sauce until it reduces by at least half and really just until it's more of a sauce consistency and less of a broth consistency. Season with salt and pepper and remove the bay leaf. Once reduced, add the chicken back in and coat with the sauce. Cover and turn off heat for about 3-5 minutes until the chicken is warmed through. Serve over some couscous, polenta, mashed potatoes, or anything!