Vinegar Braised Chicken and Mushrooms

I am always searching for new ways to prepare chicken, so when I saw this recipe I decided to give it a try.  It looked really good and not too complicated to make.  It turned out to be more labor intensive than it sounded, mostly because the chicken and vegetables are cooked separately before combining, and I cooked two pan fulls of chicken one after the other so that took double the cook time.  If I had used two pans at once it would have solved that particular problem.

Ingredients:

4 pounds chicken pieces - the original recipe called for bone in pieces, but I used boneless.
2 pounds mushrooms (I did not use this many)
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 pkg baby carrots ~ I sliced the fatter ones down the middle for faster cooking
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
3 T olive oil
2 T flour
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Heat olive oil in a large pan.  Generously season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and start them browning.  While chicken cooks, chop the veggies.

Be sure to season the other side of chicken pieces with salt and pepper after flipping over.

When cooked through, remove the chicken from the pan and place on a separate plate. Add the carrots and onions to the pan and saute them until soft, about 10 minutes.

Add mushrooms and cook until tender, about 6-8 minutes.  Add crushed garlic and cook a couple more minutes.

Transfer vegetables to the plate with the chicken and add the flour to the empty pan.  There should be a bit of liquid in the bottom of the pan that mixes with the flour.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, whisking continuously, until pasty and smooth.  Add the three vinegars and whisk until smooth.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until thickened and reduced.  Then slowly add the chicken broth.  Add the chicken back into the pot and bring to a boil.  At this point it is just a matter of making sure the chicken is cooked through.  If your pieces were thoroughly cooked previously, this step will be short.  If your pieces were simply browned earlier and need to continue to cook for a bit, cover the pot, turn heat down, and let cook until chicken is done.  When chicken is done, add the vegetables back in, let simmer and heat through for a few minutes and then serve.

I got a mixed reaction from my family over this recipe.  My husband and two of the children really liked it.  The boys were not fans of the mushrooms, though.  I thought the vinegar taste was a little too strong.  As I mentioned earlier, it was a bit more labor intensive than I was anticipating, so if I make it again I will have two pans going for the first step of cooking the chicken, and will probably reduce the vinegar and increase the chicken broth.  Otherwise, pretty good!