Country Captain Chicken w Creamed Spinach

About

Country Captain Chicken is such an interesting Southern food dish. This recipe pulls from a variety of cuisines, but you could simplify it to Southern comfort food with an Indian twist. This meal consists of pan-fried chicken simmered in a pepper and tomato sauce. Indian-inspired additions like curry powder, nutmeg, and dried currants turn a simple dish into more complex flavors. For extra comfort, the most perfect creamed spinach you’ve ever eaten is served on the side. Despite staying true to the authentic Country Captain recipes, this is a very Keto-friendly dinner!

The Origins of Country Captain

The name “Country Captain” was actually a term used in the 1800s by the East Indian Trading Company. It simply referred to the captains driving the ships used in trading. It was during this time that spices from Indian cuisine were being introduced to the United States. So, many believe this was a dish often enjoyed by ship captains and crews along the South Eastern coasts, providing a simple and clear name for the dish. In fact, there are cookbook recipes for Country Captain dating as far back as the 1850s. It wasn’t until almost 100 years later, though, that cooks started frying the chicken and adding more Southern touches.

Keto Substitutions For This Dish

There are a couple of ingredients here that you may wish to substitute. Step 1 calls for lard for frying the chicken. If you don’t have lard, you will need to use a high-smoke point oil, such as avocado or coconut oil. You may think you can substitute the paleo baking flour for almond flour, but this won’t work. Almond flour is likely to turn mushy and separate in your pan. Instead, substitute with either coconut flour or ground pork rinds. If you don’t have dried currants available to you, you can use raisins or you can omit this ingredient entirely.

Ingredients

10 ounce boneless skinless thighs chicken uncooked by tyson
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon onion powder
4 tablespoon paleo baking flour by bob's red mill
2 tablespoon lard
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ¾ ounce green bell pepper
5 ounce grape tomato
1 teaspoon garlic
¼ teaspoon curry powder
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg ground
¼ cup chicken broth
¼ ounce currants, dried
4 ounce spinach
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon garlic
1 ounce cream cheese
3 tablespoon heavy cream
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper by simply organic
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon, grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon almonds

Instructions

Pound a 5-oz chicken thigh per serving flat with a wooden mallet. Season the top side of the chicken with the salt, pepper, paprika, and onion powder. Arrange the paleo flour on a plate and gently dredge each chicken thigh in the flour. Heat the lard in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat (if you don’t have lard, use a high-smoke point oil). Then, place the floured chicken thighs down in the hot oil, cooking the chicken for about 2 minutes per side – just enough to brown the chicken.
Set the cooked chicken aside to rest, returning the pan to the stove. Melt the butter into the pan over low heat to deglaze and spices and flour that is stuck to the pan. Toss in thin-sliced bell pepper with whole grape tomatoes, garlic, curry powder, and nutmeg. Toss the ingredients around in the butter and spices for 5 or more minutes over a medium heat until you see the peppers turn golden on the edges and the tomato skins start cracking.
Pour the chicken broth and dried currants into the pan and bring the broth to a simmer. Place a lid over the pan and simmer the ingredients for 10-15 minutes. Stir to break down the tomatoes and thicken the sauce. Once the sauce is cooked down, turn the stove heat to as low as it will go. Nestle the chicken thighs in the sauce and let them reheat in the sauce with the lid over the pan. Set the finished Country Captain Chicken aside when done.
While the sauce is cooking, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Once boiling, place in all the spinach and cook for 3 minutes. Then, drain the water and transfer the spinach to an ice bath.
Melt the butter in a new pan over low heat and add in the garlic and drained spinach. Once the spinach has heated through, melt the cream cheese into the spinach. Once the cream cheese has melted, stir in the heavy cream, pepper, red pepper, and onion powder. Simmer the cream spinach until the liquid reduces. Then, stir in parmesan cheese. Once the creamed spinach is thick and bubbling, remove from the stove to cool.
For serving, each plate receives a chicken thigh with sauce and about 2 ¼ oz creamed spinach. Garnish the chicken with about ½ tsp of almond slices and chopped parsley.