Braised Chicken and Figs with Honey Gastrique

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
• 2  bay leaves 
• 1 cup chicken stock see (more or less according to the size of your pan)
• 0.5 cup cooking wine dry white
• 4 sprigs thyme leaves fresh
• 1 tablespoon honey 
• 1 pinch kosher salt as needed plus more )
• 4  onions 
• 1 pinch freshly cracked pepper black as needed plus more )
• 2 tablespoon butter unsalted

Equipment

• frying pan
• sauce pan
• oven
• roasting pan
• stove

Directions

1. Separate legs and thighs if you like, but I don’t. Pat chicken pieces very dry. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Cut top half-inch off onions. Peel onions, and quarter them vertically, cutting only a bit off the root end so each quarter stays intact.
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
4. Heat butter in a heavy ovenproof skillet, preferably one large enough to hold chicken in a single layer. Over medium-high heat, brown chicken well on both sides. If skillet is not large enough to hold all the chicken, brown it in stages, and transfer it to a roasting pan that will hold it all.Tuck onion quarters, thyme and bay leaves around chicken.
5. Add white wine and enough chicken stock so liquid is about ½-inch deep in pan.
6. Place chicken in oven, and cook until chicken is done, about 40 minutes.
7. Remove from oven to stove.
8. Place figs around the chicken.
9. Place pan over medium-high heat, bring contents to a simmer, and cook a few minutes until sauce starts to get syrupy. Warm honey and vinegar in a small saucepan, and drizzle over chicken. Turning chicken in pan, cook a few minutes more, basting with pan juices.
10. Remove bay leaves, check seasonings, and serve, dividing the ingredients so each plate gets a chicken leg and thigh, and 4 pieces each of fig and onion.