Hunter's Chicken Stew
April 13, 2010
I decided to follow a recipe nearly to the letter to experience what it is like to cook from a recipe exactly as it appears sans the midas touch. I cooked pollo alla cacciatora by Jaime Oliver. Result? Amazing. My only modifications were the type of olives, type of wine, and cooking times. This recipe anticipates feeding a tribe but I cooked for two so proportion of ingredients is smaller.
I cooked 2 chicken breasts. To begin, marinate chx in 1/2 bottle red wine, clove crushed garlic, 6 bay leaves, 2 rosemary twigs, s&p and a dash of EVOO. Let sit over night - this is VERY important.
The next day, take chx out of marinade and pat dry with paper towel. Dust with flour and quickly brown chicken on all sides. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350.
Now, for the sauce, use same pan you used for frying chx (use an enameled pot like le creuset). Quickly toast 2 crushed and chopped garlic, then add 6 anchovies, 1 c olives (I used sicilian), and 1 large can of plum tomatoes (crush in pan with spoon). Add reserve liquid marinade (remove old bay leaves and rosemary, replace with fresh ones), and bring to slight boil. Add chx.
Cover with lid and cook in oven for 1 hour. Turn off oven and let rest for 20 minutes. Eat hot with beans or side pasta.
It will knock your socks off!
Roasted Chicken with White Wine
June 06, 2008
Rarely do I make an effort to buy a slab of meat these days, but I couldn't pass up an amazing sale on small organic fryer chickens at Whole Foods. For the price of two chicken breasts, I got the whole chicken. After bringing it home however, I realized that I didn't have a clue what to do with it. I turned to my many cookbooks however, and found a few roasted chicken recipes that I thought would be tasty and fast.
You will need:
- 1 fryer chicken, rinsed thoroughly and patted dry with a paper towel
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 5 ripe tomatoes or a quart of cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 bunch of carrots
- 1 onion, quartered and taken apart
- 1 whole bulb of garlic, each clove removed, crushed, and skinned
- 1 lemon
- olive oil, salt, pepper
- 2-3 cups white wine
For this recipe, I used my 4 1/2 quart round Le Creuset stoneware that accommodated nicely the chicken and vegetables. You can use whatever roasting pan you have (even a cake pan!), just be sure to line it with foil.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (C).
Step One: Boil the lemon in a small sauce pot for 5 minutes. Remove the lemon, cut in half, and prick it with a small paring knife. Stuff the chicken cavity with the lemons, some of the whole parsley, and about 4 cloves of garlic.
Step Two: Pour about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the roasting pan, along with salt, pepper, and any other spices to your liking (i.e. crushed red pepper, bay leaves, thyme, etc). Toss in carrots, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and the rest of the parsley. I recommend chopping up the remaining parsley rather than throwing it in whole.
Step Three: Place the chicken over the vegetables and lightly coat it with olive oil using your hands. Pour in 2 cups of white wine (I used sauvignon blanc).
Step Four: Roast the chicken for about 1 and 1/2 hours. You can pour the remaining cup of white wine after one hour of cooking. To finish off the roasting process, I flipped my bird (hee hee) upside down in the roaster and crisped the bottom for 10 minutes.
Step Five: Remove the chicken and "rest" it for 10 minutes before carving up. I like to remove all the meat from the bones by hand because it is more efficient and surprisingly easy because the chicken is so moist. Just be sure not to burn yourself.
Serve the chicken over anything you'd like. I served the chicken over penne pasta tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. With the leftovers the next day, I reheated the chicken in a little more wine and olive oil, and served it over French green lentils and steamed spinach. You can also eat it on a sandwich, or with potatoes.
Chicken in Tomato Chipotle Sauce
April 02, 2008
It has been two months since I’ve blogged – terrible neglect, I know. In light of this, I am going to give you a random recipe I’ve cooked a few times over the last two months that actually involves chicken – the bird I rarely eat. I loved this dish so much I made it again and again. If you dislike chicken because of its plain nature, I suggest you try cooking it with this fabulous chipotle sauce. I also know that you can substitute carrots and potatoes for the chicken to serve a vegetarian version of this dish. The entire meal is below, with cooking instructions and alternative “quickies” for folks with less time on their hands to prepare the full meal.
Chicken in Chipotle Sauce with Beans, Papas, and Corn Tortillas
For the sauce:
1 tomato
4 pieces of garlic, with the skin on
1 tbsp Mexican Oregano
4 chipotle chiles (you can buy this in a can)
¼ white or yellow onion, quickly sautéed in hot vegetable oil
1 c water
Step One: Place tomato and garlic pieces on a cookie sheet and broil. You want the tomato skin to blister (it will look slightly burnt), and the garlic skin to turn brown. Oven times vary.
Step Two: Remove the skin of the tomato and garlic. Place tomato, garlic, oregano, chipotle peppers, sautéed onion, and water in a blender and puree. Set aside.
You can freeze this mixture to serve it later when you are crunched for time.
For the Chicken:
2 chicken breasts, not frozen! (you can leave the bone in or out)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add chicken, salt and pepper, and cook until chicken browns slightly (about 7-10 minutes). Add the sauce, cover pan and let simmer for 20 minutes. The simmering sauce finishes the cooking process and will result in a tender chicken.
The side dishes:
Pinto Beans
Step One: clean 1 cup of pinto beans (i.e., pick out the rocks and rinse the beans under water). Soak the beans overnight or while you are away at work all day in a large bowl. The water should cover the beans by 2 inches.
Step Two: Drain the beans and add them to a large pot. Add 4 cups of water and cook on high for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until beans are tender. Keep adding liquid if too much evaporates. The liquid should be light brown.
Step Three: When beans are tender, add 1 tbsp salt, and 3 tbsp of olive or vegetable oil and slightly mash the beans. Cook for another 15 minutes before eating. I like to serve the beans more like a soup, but you can always drain the liquid and mash the beans in a frying pan with the 3 tbsp of olive or vegetable oil for frijoles refritos. You should be advised that adding salt before the beans finish cooking prolongs cooking time.
Roasted Papas (potatoes)
Rinse 3 medium potatoes of any variety, and cut into smaller pieces. Toss in 4 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in the oven on a cookie sheet at 400F for 25 minutes or until toasty brown. Serve hot!
Corn Tortillas
Contrary to popular belief, your tortillas should not be placed in the microwave. Rather, treat your tortilla with some dignity and place it on a comal or heat it in a sauté pan over medium heat, carefully turning the tortilla until each side is warmed and begins to slightly toast. Place in a clean towel to keep warm.
If you are cooking beans, you can make them from scratch, or heat up some canned beans on the stove with some vegetable fat (so you don’t get too much gas!). If making them from scratch, follow the recipe above.
Lastly, if you want an all vegetarian version of this dish, swap carrots for chicken, but do not add the potatoes yet. They will turn mushy. Roast the potatoes as indicated above, and ladle the sauce and carrots over them.
¡Buen provecho!
Chicken in Chipotle Sauce with Beans, Papas, and Corn Tortillas
For the sauce:
1 tomato
4 pieces of garlic, with the skin on
1 tbsp Mexican Oregano
4 chipotle chiles (you can buy this in a can)
¼ white or yellow onion, quickly sautéed in hot vegetable oil
1 c water
Step One: Place tomato and garlic pieces on a cookie sheet and broil. You want the tomato skin to blister (it will look slightly burnt), and the garlic skin to turn brown. Oven times vary.
Step Two: Remove the skin of the tomato and garlic. Place tomato, garlic, oregano, chipotle peppers, sautéed onion, and water in a blender and puree. Set aside.
You can freeze this mixture to serve it later when you are crunched for time.
For the Chicken:
2 chicken breasts, not frozen! (you can leave the bone in or out)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add chicken, salt and pepper, and cook until chicken browns slightly (about 7-10 minutes). Add the sauce, cover pan and let simmer for 20 minutes. The simmering sauce finishes the cooking process and will result in a tender chicken.
The side dishes:
Pinto Beans
Step One: clean 1 cup of pinto beans (i.e., pick out the rocks and rinse the beans under water). Soak the beans overnight or while you are away at work all day in a large bowl. The water should cover the beans by 2 inches.
Step Two: Drain the beans and add them to a large pot. Add 4 cups of water and cook on high for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until beans are tender. Keep adding liquid if too much evaporates. The liquid should be light brown.
Step Three: When beans are tender, add 1 tbsp salt, and 3 tbsp of olive or vegetable oil and slightly mash the beans. Cook for another 15 minutes before eating. I like to serve the beans more like a soup, but you can always drain the liquid and mash the beans in a frying pan with the 3 tbsp of olive or vegetable oil for frijoles refritos. You should be advised that adding salt before the beans finish cooking prolongs cooking time.
Roasted Papas (potatoes)
Rinse 3 medium potatoes of any variety, and cut into smaller pieces. Toss in 4 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in the oven on a cookie sheet at 400F for 25 minutes or until toasty brown. Serve hot!
Corn Tortillas
Contrary to popular belief, your tortillas should not be placed in the microwave. Rather, treat your tortilla with some dignity and place it on a comal or heat it in a sauté pan over medium heat, carefully turning the tortilla until each side is warmed and begins to slightly toast. Place in a clean towel to keep warm.
If you are cooking beans, you can make them from scratch, or heat up some canned beans on the stove with some vegetable fat (so you don’t get too much gas!). If making them from scratch, follow the recipe above.
Lastly, if you want an all vegetarian version of this dish, swap carrots for chicken, but do not add the potatoes yet. They will turn mushy. Roast the potatoes as indicated above, and ladle the sauce and carrots over them.
¡Buen provecho!
Labels: chicken, chili, pinto beans, tomatoes
