Chicken and Egg - Janice Cole [90]
* * *
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Cook the bacon in a large ovenproof pot over medium heat until brown and crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon. Brown the chicken in batches in the bacon drippings, 6 to 8 minutes, turning as needed to brown all sides. Remove the chicken, and then remove and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings from the pot.
Sauté the onions and bell pepper over medium heat for 3 minutes or until they just begin to soften. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return the chicken to the pot and nestle the pieces in the onions and bell pepper. Season the chicken with rosemary, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the bacon over the chicken, top with the tomatoes, and pour in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and partially cover.
Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, keeping the lid ajar so that the liquid barely simmers. Stir in the beans. Continue baking for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender and no longer pink in the center. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter and cover loosely with foil. Place the pot over high heat and boil for 5 to 8 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Spoon the vegetable mixture over the chicken and serve.
NOTES
I like to use an extra-smoky bacon like Neuske’s for more flavor.
Braising—the technique of slowly cooking browned meat in a small amount of liquid—is used to tenderize tough cuts of meat. Although it’s the perfect method for cooking tough stewing hens, they have become difficult to find. This recipe has been adapted for a younger hen, and the cooking time is much shorter.
SERVES 4
5 slices (about 4 ounces) applewood-smoked bacon, chopped (see Note)
One 3 ½-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, deveined, and coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
¾ teaspoon coarse sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
One 14 ½-ounce can diced tomatoes
½ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
One 15- to 19-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
Pan-Roasted Stilton Chicken with Apples
A chicken that’s allowed to run will provide the full flavor necessary to support the tangy Stilton cheese and tart sweetness of the apples in this dish. Talk to the purveyors at the farmers’ market or your butcher, and they’ll be happy to tell you about the chickens they sell.
* * *
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly oil a small, rimmed baking sheet with extra-virgin olive oil or coat with nonstick cooking spray. Season the chicken breasts with the salt and pepper and sprinkle with the rosemary.
Melt the butter with the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 6 minutes or until browned on both sides, turning once. Transfer to the baking sheet. Add the apple slices to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly softened and lightly browned. Spoon the apples around the chicken, placing a couple of slices over each breast.
Bake for 6 minutes or until the chicken feels slightly firm when pressed. Scatter the cheese over the chicken and apples. Continue baking another 2 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the chicken is no longer pink in the center.
Serve the chicken with the apples.
SERVES 4
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 ½ pounds)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 ½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 unpeeled Honeycrisp or Fuji apples, cored and sliced ¼ inch thick (about 2 ¼ cups)
2 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled (about 1⁄3 cup)
A Day in the Life of a Chicken
Sunrise, and it’s time to get up and greet the day. The chickens are hungry and usually eat the bulk of their food in the morning, so make sure it’s nutritious. The time for snacks and treats is in the afternoon, after they’ve already eaten their fill of the important food.
Once