Braised Chicken With Dried Plums Olives And Capers Food

DRIED PLUM AND OLIVE CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place chicken in a large slow cooker; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add plums, olives, capers, Italian seasoning, garlic and bay leaves. Pour broth, honey and vinegar over all in the cooker.
• Cover and cook for 5 to 6 hours.
• Serve with hot cooked rice.

THE BEST BRAISED CHICKEN WITH DRIED PLUMS

Steps:

• In a heavy pot or skillet (with a lid), heat oil over medium-high.
• Season chicken with salt & pepper. Cook in 2 batches until browned, 8-9 minutes, flipping once. Transfer to a plate.
• To pot, add onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until onion begins to brown, 5-7 minutes. Reduce heat if necessary.
• Add flour, cook, stirring, 1 minute.
• Add wine and chicken along with any accumulated juices.
• Add bay leaves (if using).
• Cover and cook until chicken is opaque throughout, 8-10 minutes (or thirty if your pan sucks too!). Stir in prunes.
• If you prefer the sauce to be less watery, remove lid, and continue to cook on medium heat until the sauce reduces to the desired consistency.
• Remove bay leaves, and serve with polenta or mashed potatoes to catch the savory sauce.

PAN-BRAISED CHICKEN WITH DRIED FRUITS AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken on all sides with cumin, salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and sauté until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Push chicken to side of skillet. Add garlic to skillet and stir 30 seconds. Add dried fruits, wine, broth and olives and bring to boil. Simmer chicken uncovered until just cooked through, turning chicken occasionally with tongs, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to plates. Increase heat and boil until sauce is slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH TOMATOES, OLIVES AND CAPERS

Steps:

• Put the oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When it's hot, add the chicken, skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook undisturbed, adjusting the heat so the chicken doesn't burn, until the pieces are browned on the bottom and release easily from the skillet, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue cooking, turning the chicken every few minutes, until it's brown all over, 5 to 10 minutes more. Remove the chicken from the pan and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.
• Add the onions and capers and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and tomatoes; cook until the mixture starts to bubble and the tomatoes thicken slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the wine and let the mixture bubble for another 2 minutes.
• Add the olives and thyme, and return the chicken to the skillet, nestling the pieces into the sauce. Adjust the heat so the liquid bubbles gently but steadily, then cover the skillet. Cook, turning the chicken every 10 minutes or so and adding a splash of stock or water if the sauce looks too dry, until the chicken is tender and cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes (an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh should read 155 to 165). Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with the parsley, and serve.

CHICKEN WITH OLIVES, PRUNES AND CAPERS

Steps:

• In two or three baking pans, arrange the chicken pieces in one layer.
• Combine all the ingredients except the cilantro and one-half cup of the brown sugar. Pour over the chicken so that the prunes, olives and capers are evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over the chicken and bake for about one hour, basting often.
• To serve, arrange the chicken pieces with the sauce on a platter. Sprinkle with the cilantro.

BRAISED CHICKEN LEGS AND THIGHS WITH TOMATOES, POTATOES, OLIVES AND CAPERS

Steps:

• Let the chicken come to room temperature, then pat the pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a shallow, flat container and dredge the chicken in the flour, shaking off any excess. Set aside.
• In a large heavy-bottomed skillet or a Dutch oven designed for braising, heat the oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the butter, let it melt and heat until it begins to turn brown, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a large platter and set aside.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet and return the skillet to the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 1 minute. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, and cook until the wine has reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock and tomatoes and raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. The add the potatoes, olives, capers, and thyme, and stir to combine. Bring the liquid to a boil again, then reduce the heat to low so the liquid is simmering, and return the chicken to the pan. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender and the potatoes can be easily pierced with a knife, 25 to 35 minutes.
• To serve, place one chicken leg and one thigh in each of four shallow bowls. Spoon the sauce on top, getting some of the tomatoes, potatoes, olives and capers in each portion. Serve immediately.
• Place the chicken, carrots, celery, onion, parsley and thyme in an 8-quart stockpot. Add enough water to come up to 2 inches from the top of the pot. Place the pot over high heat and bring the liquid to a lively simmer--do not let the liquid boil. As soon as the liquid starts to simmer, reduce the heat so that you maintain a lively simmer throughout. (This could be anywhere from low to medium heat depending on the strength of your range.) Skim off any gray scum that floats to the top of the stock. Cook the stock, uncovered, for about 2 1/2 hours -- it should reduce in volume by one-quarter to one-third. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl or clean stockpot, pressing on the solids in the strainer to extract all the liquid. If you like, season with salt to taste--I prefer to keep my stock salt-free.
• Use right away or transfer to air tight containers and refrigerate or freeze. The stock will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer.