Crispy Chicken Thighs with Pumpkin and Golden Raisin Compote

This recipe came from the February 2011 Food & Wine magazine. I replaced the butternut squash with - get this - frozen pumpkin. Apparently some types of pumpkin do freeze well. The package I thawed for this recipe was marked Mexican pumpkin, a green mottled pumpkin that was fabulous to eat fresh and I had a hard time locating a lot of them. It held its shape and was firm even after cooking in the compote. If there is a next year in this blog, I will definitely remember this.

When grocery shopping for this recipe, the store I was in didn't have any golden raisins and I was tempted to replace them with regular. I'm so glad I didn't. They really make the dish. Cooked with apples, pumpkin, shallots, wine, honey and spices, they were just delicious. I also like this method of cooking the chicken thighs, although it did take longer than they suggested it would to reach the correct internal temperature for chicken. Served with wild rice, it was a great Sunday dinner.