Recipe Instructions:
Ingredients
5 slices Whole30-compliant bacon diced
4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs approximately 1 ½ pounds
1 pinch salt
1 pinch freshly cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms about 3 cups, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup coconut milk
¼ teaspoon salt
5 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. In large oven-safe skillet, cook diced bacon over medium heat until bacon is crisp and fat is rendered. Transfer cooked bacon to plate. Pour out bacon grease, leaving 1-2 tablespoons grease in skillet. Raise heat to medium-high.
Liberally season both sides of each chicken thigh with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Place seasoned chicken thighs in skillet, skin-side down. Place them carefully in such a way that they will cook evenly without needing to be moved. Let chicken thighs cook approximately 7 minutes or until skin is evenly browned and releases easily from skillet. Note: if skin sticks to skillet, continue cooking until skin releases easily.
Flip chicken thighs over so skin-side faces up. Transfer skillet to preheated oven and cook 13 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160º Fahrenheit.
Remove skillet from oven and carefully transfer chicken thighs to another plate. Place skillet on the stovetop and turn heat to medium-high. Take special care to always, always use a pot holder from this step forward; the handle will stay very hot.
Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of fat from skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and cook approximately 4 minutes, stirring only once, or until mushrooms are golden brown and slightly softened.
Add garlic cloves and sauté, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Pour coconut milk into skillet and add salt and fresh thyme. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to gentle boil, then immediately reduce heat to low. Simmer mixture approximately 2 to 4 minutes, until flavors have blended and sauce has reduced slightly.
Add bacon to sauce and stir well. Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired. Return chicken thighs to skillet and coat with sauce. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or cauliflower rice and some leafy greens.
Notes
To get a really nice, browned skin on the chicken thighs, it's important that you put them in the skillet and leave them alone. Don't move them around or pick them up to check them or flip them over constantly. Put them in the skillet and leave them alone for 7 minutes or so. After that, gently pick them up - if the skin sticks at all, set them back down and let them cook a little longer.
If you're NOT on a Whole30 round and/or you're NOT paleo, you can make the cream sauce with heavy cream instead of coconut cream. Add in a little freshly grated parmesan cheese for extra richness and depth. But ONLY IF you're not following Whole30/paleo ways of eating. No dairy allowed on those
