By Beth V
One of my favorite ways to use chicken pieces is in braised recipes. The chicken is quickly browned on the outside and then finishes cooking in a rich, flavorful broth, creating a delicious sauce that is perfect for mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or a piece of crusty bread. And the meat is so tender and flavorful. These dishes are warm and comforting, perfect for cold winter days. Braised dishes are easy to prepare, very easy on the wallet, and they taste amazing. This particular recipe includes the flavors of bacon, onion, garlic, tomatoes, olives, wine (optional), and oregano. Do not be afraid if you are not a lover of olives. I am not a lover of olives, but I really enjoy the flavors the olives give to this dish.
Start by sprinkling about 8 chicken pieces with salt and pepper. You want to use bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces; they lend the most flavor and hold up well without drying out. If you prefer skinless chicken, it is best to take the skin off after the dish is cooked in this recipe. Heat a tablespoon of oil over high heat in a heavy skillet or dutch oven. Place the seasoned chicken, skin side down, into the pan and reduce the heat to medium high, cooking 5 minutes per side. The chicken will not be cooked through at this point, just browned on the outside. You want the heat to be up pretty high to brown the chicken fast, but if it seems your chicken is getting too brown before the 5 minutes are up, turn it down a little lower. Also, be careful not to crowd the pan during the browning process. If the pan starts to get too crowded, just brown half at a time and then continue with the recipe.
Remove the chicken to a plate. Pour off the pan drippings, adding back in a tablespoon and a half, which will be used to sauté the bacon, onions and garlic. Return the pan to medium-high heat and add one slice of chopped bacon to the pan until it is almost crisp, then add in one chopped onion. Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt and cook the onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant. As a side note, I find the easiest way to chop uncooked bacon is to use kitchen shears.
Now we start creating the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons flour into the pan, coating the onion mixture. Allow the flour to brown for about a minute. Now we add some liquid to this mixture. If you have wine, use ½ cup wine and ½ cup chicken broth, or you can use a full cup of chicken broth and skip the wine. I didn’t use wine this time and the flavor was still amazing. Slowly add the wine and/or broth to the pan, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Now, add in a can of diced tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of oregano.
Allow the sauce to come to a bubbly simmer and place the chicken pieces right on top of the sauce. Where crowding was not good during the browning process, feel free to crowd them in now so that they all simmer together with the sauce. I started with chicken leg portions and then I used kitchen shears to separate them into leg and thigh after the browning step so that I could fit them all into the pan at this point. Cover the pan, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the meat and sauce to simmer together for 30 to 35 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. At the very end, remove the chicken pieces to a platter and stir ½ cup chopped black olives into the sauce. If you want a stronger olive-y flavor, go for Kalamata olives, if you want a flavor that blends and is more understated, use regular black olives.
Now, pour the delicious sauce over the chicken pieces, top with a little fresh, chopped parsley if you’d like and serve alongside mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or even in a bowl with a slice of crusty bread. This makes a very pretty dish and it makes a lot, so this would be a great meal to serve to dinner guests.
We had ours with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. We had a couple of pieces of chicken and a good bit of sauce leftover, so I removed the chicken from the bones, added it to the sauce and served it over bowtie pasta with sprinkles of parmesan cheese the second night. It was a really easy way to recreate the leftovers and my family enjoyed it both nights.
Enjoy!
Chicken Provencal
8 pieces of bone-in, skin-on chicken
Salt and pepper
1 slice bacon, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced, or 2 teaspoons of bottled, minced garlic
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup white wine (optional: can sub with chicken broth)
½ cup chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup black olives, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
In a heavy skillet or dutch oven, heat the oil over high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the pan, skin side down, being careful not to crowd the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook the chicken 5 minutes per side. Repeat with second batch of chicken, if necessary. Remove the chicken to a plate and pour off the pan juices, adding back one and a half tablespoons to the pan.
Return the pan to medium-high heat and cook the bacon until almost crisp. Add in the chopped onions, sprinkling with ¼ teaspoon salt, cooking 5 minutes, or until softened. Add in the garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir flour into the onion mixture to thoroughly coat and allow it to brown for about 1 minute. Slowly stir in wine and/or broth, scraping up any brown bits. Add in tomatoes and oregano and allow the mixture to come to a bubbly simmer. Set all of the chicken pieces on top of the sauce. Cover the pan and reduce heat to medium-low. Allow the sauce and chicken to simmer together for 30-35 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the chicken to a platter and stir olives into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken then sprinkle fresh, chopped parsley over the top. Serve each chicken piece with a generous spoonful of sauce alongside mashed or roasted potatoes, rice, pasta, or crusty bread.
Here are a few other braised chicken recipes you might enjoy:
Braised Chicken Thighs with Button Mushrooms
Beth is a stay-at-home mom of three wonderfully active children ages 6, 3 and almost 1. She is married to Jason (who also writes for us here at MAD21) and spends her days teaching, changing diapers, sweeping up Cheerios, keeping peace among the kids, and whipping out gourmet meals on the side.