Recipes Roast Chicken Thighs with Tomato-Tapioca Porridge Be the first to rate & review! Wylie Dufresne is a genius at using avant-garde techniques to turn everyday ingredients into miraculous dishes. For instance, at his Manhattan restaurant WD-50, the revamped menu includes chicken confit with peas and carrots: The “peas” are actually carrots coated with freeze-dried pea powder. But when F&W challenged the Top Chef Masters contestant to create a fast recipe, he simply roasted the carrots to serve with chicken and tomato-infused tapioca porridge. It takes three chefs 12 hours to prepare the WD-50 dish, but less than an hour for a home cook to make this one. Slideshow: Great Recipes for Chicken Thighs By Wylie Dufresne Wylie Dufresne Why Because he absorbed many of the ideas of his mentor, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and has plenty of his own, too. Born 1970, Providence. Education The French Culinary Institute, New York City. Experience Jo Jo and Jean Georges, New York City; Prime, Las Vegas. First food memory Watching his great-grandmother pick rhubarb. Perks of working in Vegas Living in the Mirage for six months and learning to play blackjack. Food vice American cheese. "There's nothing wrong with stacking up 10 or 12 slices and putting the whole thing in your mouth." Ingredient crush Black soybeans. "They smell and taste like corn." What worries him Mad-cow disease. "I want that thing solved, or we won't have any beef in 10 years. Come on, we need hamburgers!" About his recipe The chive oil in Dufresne's Sea Bass with Edamame-Rye Crust shows Vongerichten's influence, but the rye crumbs are original. "Rye is one of my favorite breads." Won Best New Chef at: 71 Clinton Fresh Food, New York City (closed) Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 8, 2019 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Antonis Achilleos Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 45 mins Yield: 4 Ingredients 2 pounds red heirloom tomatoes, quartered 6 thyme sprigs Salt Freshly ground white pepper 6 medium unpeeled carrots, trimmed 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons medium pearl tapioca (2 ounces); see Note 8 boneless chicken thighs with skin (about 2 1/2 pounds) 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios Directions Preheat the oven to 425°. In a blender, puree the tomatoes until fairly smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a saucepan, pressing on the solids; you should have about 2 1/2 cups of puree. Add 3 thyme sprigs and simmer over moderate heat, scraping down the sides, until thick and glossy, 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; discard the thyme. Meanwhile, in a flameproof roasting pan, toss the carrots with 3 tablespoons of the oil; season with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until lightly browned, 3 minutes. Roast the carrots in the oven for 40 minutes, turning, until browned and very tender. Halve the carrots lengthwise. Leave the oven on. Rinse the tapioca. In a large saucepan of boiling water, cook the tapioca over high heat, stirring, until al dente with a small white core at the centers, 17 minutes. Drain and rinse the tapioca and stir into the tomato puree. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a large ovenproof skillet until nearly smoking. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the skillet, skin side down, with the remaining 3 thyme sprigs. Cook over high heat just until the skin is lightly browned, 5 minutes, then roast in the oven for 15 minutes, until cooked through; discard the thyme. Preheat the broiler. Broil the chicken, skin side up, until golden and crispy, 3 minutes. Arrange the chicken and carrots on plates. Spoon off the fat from the pan juices. Add the juices to the tapioca and spoon it around the chicken. Top with the pistachios and serve. Notes Medium pearl tapioca is available at specialty food stores and Asian markets. Suggested Pairing Full-bodied Rhône-style white. Rate it Print