hearth-Craft

Rainy day Chicken

Hubby and I had just returned from our little weekend getaway in celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary.  It was rainy and chilly and there was that rumbling thunder in the distance that promises more rain.  I decided to get creative in the kitchen and make a little something that would chase away some of the autumn chill in the air.

This dish was sorta kinda inspired by a dish we had over the weekend - in that it’s chicken pieces with a sauce involving fresh onions and tomatoes. There it ends, because I decided to leave out the cream and the tomato paste I could taste in the dish.  I decided to add a splash of wine, because I tend to cook with alcohol a lot and like the flavor. I also decided to add some heat to the dish, specifically so that it becomes good for chasing away the chill of a rainy day.

Ok - so how did I do this? I started with bone in chicken pieces. I suppose you could use chicken breast if you have it on hand or if you don’t prefer bone in, but I like the roundness of flavor cooking with bone in pieces gives.  I prepped my chicken the way I usually do, by seasoning it raw with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. Then I set it aside.

I halved the onion and thinly sliced it (the original source dish had finely chopped the onion - go with your preference). I took a couple of fresh tomatoes and diced them in big chunks till I had about as much tomatoes as I had onions.  I also took a couple of big cloves of fresh garlic and finely diced them. Stuff was going to happen quickly in the pan, so I did all this up front as prep.

I took one of those deep, big pans - you know the ones that have a couple of inches tall lip? And I drizzled some extra virgin olive oil.  I let that heat up nice and hot, then I added the onions. I used a wooden spoon to toss them around so the olive oil coated them nicely and seasoned them with a touch of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper too - cause anyone who watches Food Channel nowadays knows to add flavor in layers.

I sprinkle crushed red peppers at this point to add the heat. Sauteeing them in the oil like that releases the oil from the dried peppers and generates this nifty color. Cooking any pepper like this mellows out the bite of spicy burn too. A little goes a ways, but I season to taste so um, no measurements here. Sorry. ^_^;

This is where I place the chicken in the pan, skin side down and brown the pieces for a few minutes.  I flip them and then brown them on the other side for a few minutes more. They don’t have to cook all the way through because I’m going to do some additional cooking later, they just need to get a beautiful golden brown to all sides (the original dish didn’t do that and I think it adds more flavor this way, plus some people don’t like the texture of the not browned chicken skin).

At this point, I add the diced garlic and toss everything around. You can add the garlic earlier - but all this sauteeing adds to the risk that the garlic will burn, so I add it later and the flavor is just as good and less chance of burning garlic.  Then I toss in the diced tomatoes and any juice that came off them while cutting them. Toss for a minute. Optionally, add anchovy paste or a splash of asian fish sauce at this point…adds a nice roundness of flavor that ’s not fishy at all in the end product. Promise!

Then I take a nice white wine (always use one you like the flavor of and not a cheap wine, cause the flavor will only get concentrated in the dish and why use the flavor of cheap wine you wouldn’t drink?).  I liberally splash the pan with the white wine, cause I like cooking with alcohol for the flavor it adds. Careful not to start a fire at this point…or at least have a small kitchen extinguisher on hand and be ready to start over again with clean ingredients.

A few minutes of simmering allows some of the alcohol to cook off - not all, be warned. Contrary to common belief, not all alcohol always cooks off so if you’re worried simmer it a little longer. Then I add a good couple of cups of chicken broth and let the whole thing simmer for a while until the chicken is falling away from the bones.

Depending on how much liquid I’m left with, I might add chicken broth along the way so I can serve it over rice or we’ll just eat it just like that. ^_^