Herbed Balsamic Chicken

March. COVID-19 is officially a pandemic. The word that was whispered two weeks ago is now shouted from every screen, every headline, every emergency meeting at Providence. The ER is transforming overnight — new protocols, new PPE requirements, new fear. N95 masks that we used to grab by the handful are now counted and rationed. Hand sanitizer is liquid gold. The break room, where we used to eat together, is now a space of distance and anxiety and the particular paranoia of healthcare workers who know exactly how viruses spread and can't stop imagining every doorknob, every surface, every breath as a vector.

I am a frontline worker. The phrase sounds heroic when politicians say it. It doesn't feel heroic. It feels terrifying. I am going to work every day in a building where the sickest people in the city arrive, where the virus will find its way eventually, where the N95 between my face and the air is the only barrier between me and a pathogen that is killing people in Italy, in New York, in the places we watch on the news and think: that's coming here. Because it is. It's coming here.

Lourdes is seventy. She has diabetes in her family line. She is high-risk. The risk is not abstract — it's my mother, it's the kitchen in Mountain View, it's the hands that make lumpia, it's the woman who has been the center of my life for thirty-one years. The risk is specific and has a name and the name is Lourdes Santos and I cannot — I cannot — be the person who brings the virus home from the ER and carries it to her kitchen.

I made chicken adobo. The default. The recipe that doesn't require decisions because the world is demanding too many decisions and the kitchen needs to be the one place where everything is already decided — vinegar, soy, garlic, chicken. I batch-cooked. Three pots. Three containers for myself, three for Lourdes, three for Angela. The pandemic adobo. The quarantine provisions. The food that says: I don't know what's coming but I know you'll need to eat, and eating is the first survival, and surviving is what Santos women do.

I dropped the containers on Lourdes's porch. I didn't go inside. The not-going-inside was the first sacrifice of the pandemic, and it wouldn't be the last.

Chicken adobo was what I made that week — but what I reach for now, when I need that same feeling of decisiveness and comfort without having to think, is this herbed balsamic chicken. The vinegar does the same work: it cuts through, it preserves, it keeps. It holds up in the refrigerator for days. It travels. It lands on a porch inside a sealed container and still says I was here, I cooked for you, you are not alone — which is exactly what I needed to say to Lourdes and Angela when going inside wasn’t something I could do.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

3 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 pieces)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Instructions

Make the marinade. In a large bowl or zip-top bag, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and honey. Add the chicken thighs and turn to coat thoroughly. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
Preheat and sear. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Sear the chicken skin-side down for 4—5 minutes until the skin is golden and releases easily from the pan.
Flip and deglaze. Flip the chicken and pour the reserved marinade and chicken broth into the pan around the pieces. Bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
Roast. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast uncovered for 30—35 minutes, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F and the sauce has thickened and reduced by about half.
Rest and serve (or pack). Let the chicken rest 5 minutes before serving. Spoon the pan sauce over the top. To batch-store, divide into airtight containers with sauce; refrigerates well for up to 4 days and reheats beautifully.

Nutrition (per serving)

Herbed Balsamic Chicken — The Batch-Cook That Got Us Through