This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
09/27/2018 12:01 AMA gazillion years ago, there was an science fiction article in Playboy (yes, there were people who read Playboy for the articles) about a genius who had to go to so many meetings and conferences that he was no longer able to create anything new.
I thought about this article when I was at a meeting a couple of weeks ago. This is not surprising that I was at a meeting, since I spend much of my non-sleeping, non-TV-watching, non-cooking, non-reading-books time going to meetings. I am not a genius, and I actually learn a lot at meetings.
During this meeting, another person attending ate his dinner, since he had been working since just after dawn, and would not get home until after 9 p.m.
He was eating stew that smelled beyond fabulous.
I waited until he’d finished and asked what it was. Evidently his wife, whom I adore, had bought an expensive roasted chicken from Mystic’s Grass & Bone. She got a few dinners out of it, adding vegetables and maybe beans or chickpeas and perhaps a stock to put it together. I went home, inspired.
That night I read an article in Cooking Light about Dutch oven dinners. The recipes could be made in a Dutch oven, or in a slow cooker/Instant Pot. Here is one of six recipes. I will be making them all fall and into the winter. You might want to buy this issue just for other five recipes.
Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Braised Chicken with Olives, Capers, and Prunes
From Cooking Light, October, 2018
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
¼ cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons drained capers
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon honey
¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pound),
skin removed
¾ teaspoon black pepper, divided
16 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup dry white wine
2 bay leaves
24 pitted Castelvetrano olives
(I use plain old green olives, pitted)
1 cup dried, pitted plums (prunes)
1 small orange or lemon, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch slices.
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together ¼ cup oil, vinegar, capers, oregano, honey, and ¼ teaspoon salt; set aside.
3. Heat remaining oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with ½ teaspoon pepper and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Working in batches if necessary, add chicken to pan, meaty side down, and cook until well-browned, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside.
4. Add garlic to drippings in pan; cook, stirring oven, until lightly browned and blistered, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bay leaves; cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.
5. Stir in olives and prunes. Nestle chicken into mixture; pour vinegar mixture over chicken. Tuck citrus slices into mixture. Cover and bake until liquid is thick and glossy, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard bay leaves, sprinkle with remaining pepper.
Slow Cooker Method: Omit step 1. Prepare as directed through 4, substituting a skillet for the Dutch oven. Omit step 5. Pour mixture into a 6-quart slow cooker. Add olives, prunes, chicken, vinegar mixture, and citrus. Cover and cook on low until chicken is tender, 6 to 7 hours. Discard bay leaves, sprinkle with remaining pepper.
Instant Pot: Turn on sauté button. When hot add oil, vinegar, capers, oregano, honey, salt. Sauté for a few minutes. Then go to Number 3, adding oil into the Instant Pot and follow the rest of numbers 3, 4 and 5. Turn the Instant Pot to Slow and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low until chicken is tender, 6 to 7 hours. Discard bay leaves and sprinkle with remaining pepper.