Thursday, January 8, 2015

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.

40 comments:

  1. Very flavorful! A wonderful dish.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Slow braising adds such flavour to meats which Is why I love the idea that this cooks in only 1/2 the time Sam. Thanks for sharing this recipe idea with us.

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  3. It's funny when I am making a chicken dish I often slit..I always worry that the centre will be pink..
    This looks delicious..I love kalamatas with chicken..
    You must be toasty warm..It's minus13 F here!Not counting wind chill..

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    1. Monique, I'm not as cold as you are, but it was 45 this morning (cold for south Florida) and extremely windy. It was 7 in the mountains this morning so I know my rosemary died. I don't think I've ever experienced minus 13. Stay warm and I hope it warms up soon.
      Sam

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  4. Sounds delicious and perfect for the cold weather we are having here in NC.

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  5. I am making this over the weekend. It's snowing. I don't want to go out for ingredients and I have all. It does invite. Happy New Year, Sam!

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  6. It's what's for dinner tonight -- I'll be using a cut up whole chicken though since that's what I have.

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  7. Braised in wine and fresh herbs...it sounds and looks simply divine, Sam.

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  8. I am absolutely making this tomorrow - it looks delicious - I think I can smell it cooking - I'm leaving the skin on too!
    Mary

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  9. Help! You say add chicken stock but it's not in the list of ingredients. How much?

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    1. Sorry Vicki. It's 1 cup of chicken broth/stock and thank your so much for bringing it to my attention. I will fix it immediately.
      Sam

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  10. Sam, Nice cooking tip! With those slits, I imagine that the flavors soak into the pieces of chicken better too... What better accompanyment than asparagus! My favorite for sure! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  11. I love the pretty colors Sam (especially in winter). You've found some huge olives too! Sounds like a great meal:@)

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  12. A beautiful dish! I have everything in my winter "stash" except rosemary. I'm hoping The Baker will trek out to the market on Saturday. We'd both like having this dish on our table.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  13. Great to know about the little cuts. I wonder what other herbs might work...

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    1. I think fresh thyme leaves are good in almost anything LPC.
      Sam

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  14. Very pretty dish. Small slits….I can do that :-) Appreciate the tip.

    Velva

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  15. A pretty dish Sam. It is nice to be out of the NC cold. Walking the dog yesterday morning with 7 degree temperatures was no fun. Even though Florida is cold, it is not as bad as that was. I will never complain about Florida being cold again.

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  16. It looks pretty and sounds delicious - good tips on skin removal and the slit.

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  17. Mmmmm,...this looks so tasty. I love chicken that has been braised and the wine and rosemary would make it perfect!

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  18. I'm definitely going to try this one.

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  19. Made it last night -- WOW! What an amazing depth and complexity of flavor. And the leftovers were delicious -- possibly even more so -- for lunch today. This is a real winner.

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    1. Thanks Vicki. I'm pleased it worked out and again, I apologize for the chicken broth amount being missing in the list of ingredients. Thanks for you I've fixed it.
      Sam

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  20. This has my name on it, Sam. As much as I love to cook, I can be both lazy and impatient about it. Saved.

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  21. I absolutely love every and all chicken recipes. This looks so good!

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  22. Love dishes like this, Sam. Comforting and delicious. Bet it smelled divine while cooking, too. I'd like it over mashed potatoes!

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  23. I dug up a big rosemary plant from my garden and it is living in our heated garage in front of a window. I'm going to go out and give it a trim so that I can make this dish…it sounds great.

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  24. What a great tip to slice a slit into the chicken! With the ingredients of rosemary, garlic, and tomatoes stewing together, the aroma must be wonderful, Sam!

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  25. Thios looks perfect as a cold winter's meal, Sam. My rosemary plant is doing well living in my garage this winter, as well as my thyme plant-nice to have fresh herbs this time of year!

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  26. I love rosemary with chicken, so this dish sounds great to me. It is strange that they would not say to skin the kitchen in the instructions. I usually do skin chicken, but still.

    Sam, I thought of you when we were in Publix in Destin. I found some wonderful crackers called Whitney's Castleton Crackers "Alehouse Cheddar". We both enjoyed them. Not sure if they have them at your Publix, but give them a try and let me know what you think. We ate them with Publix' new brand of hummus and enjoyed it a lot. Forget which hummus we chose, but it made for a nice little snack.

    Hope you are not too cold. We actually had a snow flurry up in the NE corner of Florida! ;-)

    Happy New Year, my friend!

    xo

    Sheila

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    1. Thanks Sheila. I will definitely look at a couple of Publix stores near us for the crackers.
      Sam

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  27. Lovely combo of herbs in chicken ,looks lovely

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  28. Dear Sam, The chicken looks and sounds wonderful. xo Catherine

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  29. Oh my goodness, Sam. This looks delicious and just the thing for a chilly winter night. The thighs are our favorite part of a chicken.

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  30. I have slit the thighs on whole spatchcocked chickens before to speed the cooking but not individual parts like this. I'll give it a try!

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  31. Oh my, this looks and sounds delicious! We love chicken and love the added olives in this recipe too! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and we wish you the very best in the new year! Have a great weekend!
    xoxo Anna and Liz

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  32. You know me and braised chicken thigh recipes - they're my favorite. And thanks so much for that tip for cutting a slit in the chicken, I mean really, could I not have thought of that? Pinning this one to make soon. Thanks for sharing Sam.

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  33. Looks delicious. Cold over here in the desert also. Crazy winter, but pleased I have rosemary growing again.

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  34. Sam, this looks like a real winning dish. Thanks for sharing the tip about cutting the slit so that the chicken cooks quicker.

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