Braised Italian Chicken With Green Beans Tomatoes Olives Food

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH TOMATOES AND OLIVES (POULET PROVENCAL)

Steps:

• Preheat convection oven to 400°F or regular oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
• Toss together tomatoes, onion, olives, sliced garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence, fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 13- by 9-inch or other 3-quart shallow baking dish. Push vegetables to sides of dish to make room for chicken.
• Stir together minced garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, remaining teaspoon herbes de Provence, and remaining tablespoon olive oil.
• Remove excess fat from chicken and pat dry, then rub inside and out with seasoning mixture. Tie legs together with string, then put chicken in baking dish.
• Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of a thigh (do not touch bone) registers 170°F, about 1 hour in convection oven; 1 to 1 1/4 hours in regular oven.
• Let chicken stand 10 minutes before carving. Serve with vegetables and pan juices.

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.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH GREEN BEANS, TOMATOES AND BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in nonreactive Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking; add chicken thighs skin-side down and cook without moving them until skin is crisped and well browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken pieces and brown on second side, about 5 minutes longer; transfer thighs to large plate.
• Pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat from pot. Add onion and tomato paste and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon, until tomato paste begins to darken, about 4 minutes (if bottom of pot becomes very dark and sticky, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water, juice from tomatoes or some of chicken broth).
• Add garlic and anchovy and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, and wine, scraping up browned bits with wooden spoon.
• Add red pepper flakes, thyme, and bay.
• Remove and discard skin from chicken thighs, then submerge chicken bone-side up in liquid, adding any chicken juices accumulated on plate.
• Increase heat to high, bring to simmer, cover, then place pot in oven.
• After 30 minutes add green beans. Cook chicken for another 10 minutes or until done (when it offers no resistance when poked with tip of paring knife but meat still clings to bone).
• While chicken cooks, simmer balsamic vinegar in 8-inch nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat until thick, syrupy, and reduced to 1/4 cup, 3 to 5 minutes (begin measuring volume when vinegar begins to cling to sides of saucepan). Set aside.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer chicken to plate and tent with foil (I don't always tent it, too lazy); discard bay leaf.
• Bring liquid in Dutch oven to simmer over medium-high heat and cook until the beans are of the tenderness you like.
• Stir about 1/3 cup sauce into balsamic reduction to loosen, then stir mixture into sauce; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
• Return chicken and accumulated juices to sauce, cook long enough to warm chicken, turning once or twice. Serve immediately.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN BREASTS WITH TOMATOES AND OLIVES

Steps:

• In a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat the tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and saute until it is browned on all sides and just cooked through (about 7-10 minutes). Remove chicken and place on a plate.
• Add the teaspoons of olive oil and the onions to the pan, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the tomatoes olives, oregano and basil and cook the sauce for 5-8 more minutes.
• Add the chicken and cook until it is heated through.
• Put the chicken on plates (over rice if desired), and spoon the sauce equally over the chicken.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH OLIVES AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Toss the first 4 ingredients in a roasting tray in 2 tbsp oil and cook for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, fry the chicken in 2 tbsp oil until browned and almost cooked through. Add to the tin for the last 10 minutes of cooking along with the tomatoes, wine, stock and olives.
• Scatter with basil and serve.