Chicken Braised in Wine and Rosemary

Chicken that tastes just like it has been braised for hours but cooks in only 45 minutes? I don’t know. I have to try it for myself - and it did and it does. Hard to believe, but there’s a tiny little secret and here’s what it is. Cut a ½ inch deep slit in the chicken, which to my surprise actually worked. That small cut expedites the cooking time, making the dish taste likes it’s braised for hours.

As you can see in the photos, I left the skin on the chicken, which was quite by accident. It seems the trend in writing recipes today is to make the instructions as short as possible (so as not to intimidate the reader I assume), so “skinned” was listed after the word “chicken” in the ingredients list, not in the instructions, so I missed it. It won’t ruin the recipe, but I recommend skinning the chicken and removing any excess fat. Otherwise you might need to let the dish rest in the refrigerator overnight and then remove the fat the rises to the top before reheating.

Asparagus (My Carolina Kitchen’s basic recipe here) with a lemon butter drizzle and creamy mashed potatoes both make an excellent accompaniment. Feel free to use part drumsticks for half of the chicken thighs as the original recipe called for. We thought our additions of the kalamata olives and more fresh rosemary brought a bit more flavor & depth to the dish.

Chicken Braised in Wine and Rosemary
Adapted from Cooking Light – serves 4
Printable Recipe

8 bone-in chicken thighs (about 1 ¼ pounds), skinned
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon peeled & chopped garlic
½ - 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup dry red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)
1 cup chicken stock or broth (I use low fat, low sodium version)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed and undrained
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
Chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
Rosemary sprigs, for garnish

Make 1 cut, 1/2-inch-deep, in each chicken piece and sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat. Add oil to pan and swirl to coat. Place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour. Add chicken to pan and cook 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan. You may need to cook the chicken in batches so you don’t crowd the pan.

Add shallots, garlic, and rosemary to pan. Cook 2 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Take care not to let the shallots or garlic burn. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add chicken stock, sugar, tomatoes, bay leaf and olives. Bring mixture to a boil and return chicken to pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partially covered, 15 minutes or until chicken is done, turning chicken once. Test for doneness & taste for salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf, then transfer chicken to a platter and ladle sauce over. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and rosemary sprigs and serve right away.

For better viewing, click photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm and Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday.

Have a great weekend everyone.