Adventures in chicken cacciatore

Last week, we went to a friend's house for Friday night dinner. We watched the last bits of the Olympic games, drank scotch, petted cats, and most important of all, cooked a fantastic dinner for about 10. My friend Gray was responsible for the bulk of the cooking, and I managed to get a recipe from him that I'll post here with photos. He doubled the recipe because of the amount of people there, but it looks like like this would feed 4-6 really hungry people. The recipe is an altered version of a Cooks Illustrated recipe, a magazine that Tom and I get regularly, and quite a few of my friends are very fond of. The "assorted olives" were from an olive bar at a local grocery, so the tangy flavor of their oils and marinades added quite a bit of flavor to the original recipe. I'd imagine you could use regular black olives if you don't have an antipasto bar at your local grocery store, but maybe toss some green ones (de-pimento'd, if possible) into the mix as well, as a substitute.

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Oil
Flour
1 large can diced tomatos [1]
1 pint assorted olives
about 10 oz. portabello mushrooms, diced into 1" cubes, about 2 large caps
about 10 oz. crimini mushrooms, whole if small, halved if bigger
1 medium yellow onion, diced in 1/2" chunks
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 & 1/2 cups dry red wine [2]
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp thyme (fresh is best, I used dried)
1 Tbsp minced fresh sage

Optional: Brine thighs for 1-4 hours before preparing; dissolve 1/3
cup Kosher salt in cool water. Submerge thighs in brine, and sit in
fridge for 1-4 hours. Drain, rinse chicken.

Preheat oven to 325. [3]

Season thighs with salt and pepper.
Heat about 1/4" of oil in skillet over medium-high, until shimmering.
Place 4 thighs, skin side down in hot oil. Cook, without moving, for
about 5 minutes, until skin is nicely browned and crispy. Flip chicken
and brown other side for about 5 minutes. Set aside. Repeat with
remaining thighs. Remove skin from all thighs, and place thighs in an
oven-proof Dutch oven or roasting pan,

Pour off excess oil, leaving only about 2 Tbls in pan. Add diced
onions and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms
start to cook down, and the water release is cooked off. Add 1 Tbl
minced garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Sprinkle about 1/3 cup flour over veggies. Stir to incorporate. Let
flour mixture cook, stirring contantly, for about 3 minutes (the raw
flour taste should be cooked out). Slowly add wine, stirring
constanly, flour should thicken the mixture.

Add broth, tomatos, olives, thyme, stir.

Pour over chicken thighs, being sure to cover them. You can add a bit
more wine/stock at this point to make it enough to cover the thighs.
The liquid should be fairly thick, like the consistency of
half-and-half. Add a bit more flour, or cornstarch, if it needs
thickening up (it will thicken while cooking as well).

Put dish in oven, and cook 1 to 1.5 hours, until chicken is tender,
and sauce has thickened. Stirring once or twice. When stirring check
for salt/pepper need, and adjust as needed.

Stir in fresh sage just before serving.

Serve with egg noodles, pasta, polenta, etc.

[1] I really like the San Marzano ones. If you don't use these, you
might need 2 cans, as the other brands are a little smaller.
[2] I use Cotes du Rhone, any bottle around $10
[3] Original recipe calls for 300, I used 350. A slowwer braise at
lower temp would likely make the chicken come out even more tender.

 Hopefully I'll get the photo function here figured out soon, these are obviously not in order, but hey, it's my first post.
We also had some single-malt scotch that was made in Oregon. It was not the best thing I've ever had, but everyone else seemed to agree with it. For me, scotch has to be a nice, dark, sugary brown with a bit of 'oomph!' to the body, which this did not have. But it looked nice when I poured it:

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Cheers!