by MeghanVK
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A&M's Testing Notes:
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Expand1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds, cut into parts Ask a question about this ingredient
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour Ask a question about this ingredient
1/4 cup grated pecorino Ask a question about this ingredient
3 teaspoons smoked paprika Ask a question about this ingredient
1/4 cup olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient
Salt and freshly ground black pepper Ask a question about this ingredient
3 medium lemons Ask a question about this ingredient
2 large yellow onions, sliced Ask a question about this ingredient
1 large fennel bulb, halved and sliced Ask a question about this ingredient
12 whole garlic cloves, peeled Ask a question about this ingredient
3/4 cups pitted green olives Ask a question about this ingredient
1 pinch ground cinnamon Ask a question about this ingredient
1 cup whole peeled tomatoes, crushed Ask a question about this ingredient
1 cup white wine Ask a question about this ingredient
1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped Ask a question about this ingredient
Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine 1/2 cup of the flour, pecorino and 1 teaspoon of the smoked paprika in a large bowl. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot (a big Dutch oven, perhaps?) over medium-high heat. Dry the chicken parts thoroughly with paper towels and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour and then place in your pot in batches. Allow the chicken to thoroughly brown, about 5 minutes per side. Don't crowd the pan! Remove the chicken to a plate and repeat until all of your chicken pieces are golden and crispy-looking.
Ask a question about this stepQuarter the lemons, but zest one of them first; reserve the zest. (If your lemons have a thick pith, you'll want to zest all 3 and then juice them, discarding the pith; this will help you avoid a bitter sauce.) Add the onion, quartered lemons (or zest of 2 lemons and the juice of all 3), fennel, garlic, green olives, the remaining 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika, and cinnamon to the pot; cook until softened, golden, and overall mushy-looking, about 10 minutes. Taste for salt. Sprinkle the mixture with the remaining tablespoon of flour and stir over the heat for two minutes. Add the tomatoes and the wine and bring to a boil -- let bubble away for a minute or two. Add the lemon zest.
Ask a question about this stepPlace the chicken pieces back into the pot, skin side up, along with any drippings from the plate. Poke the onion/fennel/garlic/olive mixture so it surrounds the chicken on all sides. Place in the oven, uncovered, and bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Ask a question about this stepGarnish with cilantro. Serve warm. Delicious!
Ask a question about this stepThis was DEELICIOUS, but I'm calling my version " chicken that fancies itself spanish/provencal" . I wanted to minimize the sour flavor and didn't have a few items on hand. Here are my mods: 1. Zest and juice only of 2 medium Meyer lemons 2. Substituted chicken broth and vermouth in equal parts for the cup of white wine 3. Substituted celery instead of fennel. 4. Used thighs and legs only 5. Used Parmesan instead of Pecorino for coating 6. Chopped cilantro and parsley in equal parts 7. Used Picholine olives (with pits) 8. Added a bayleaf to the vegetables. Served this over rice pilaf and green peas on the side. If you don't have access to Meyer lemons, I might add a carrot or perhaps an orange to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes, lemons and white wine.
I liked this, but didn't love it - too much acid. I wouldn't make it again. One thing I learned from a checken recipe from the wall street journal, is that I no longer brown the chicken. It is messy and takes too much time to clean up the stove afterwards. For this recipe I just stuck the chicken on top of the onions etc and it browned as it cooked. Way easier and the chicken itself was delicious.
I cooked this recipe last week with mixed results. I found the technique very good: great coating on the chicken (I used thighs) and finishing it over the vegetables uncovered in the oven produced a pleasant, creamy texture for the vegetables while the chicken skin and coating remained crisp.
However, I found the flavors wildly out of balance. Even though I used small lemons -- zested one and quartered all three -- the flavor was way too strong and overwhelmed the dish. (This became even more pronounced with reheating.) Also, I love smoked pimenton, but could not detect it much by the time the dish was done. Perhaps more could be added or added later in the cooking. One must also be careful to not add too much cinnamon -- a very small pinch will do. I also feel that the fennel really didn't add much and seemed to lose its pungency after cooking as well.
I would cook this again, but cut way back on the lemon. I might also try using potato slices with all those lovely onions instead of the fennel. I think they would have time to cook perfectly in the oven and provide a more balanced base for all the pungent flavors provided by the lemon, olives, wine and tomatoes.
Disaster! Wary of bitterness, I zested and juiced two lemons and only added one, in wedges, to the stew. Bitter, bitter, bitter. This is what happens when you make something new for dinner guests. The chicken was quite nice . . . I served it with a herby, chili couscous. But the vegetables were barely edible. I'll try again, but without adding any sliced lemons. Who knew?
Meyer lemons are marvelous in this recipe!
Delicious! I made this tonight and the house smelled amazing! I added mushrooms just because :)
Can you reccomend the type of olives preferred here? Thx!
I just use standard green olives - but I think any kind of green olive would be fine (picholines, cerignolas). Kalamata olives might work but the flavor would definitely be different.
Just made this and I have to say it was extremely easy and all my guests loved it. Thanks so much.
WOW!!!!! Made this for a dinner party and everyone was in awe! Incredible combination of flavors! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!
Made this last week, and it was absolutely spectacular. I made it pretty much as written, and served with rice. Delicious!
WOW!!! We made this two days ago and it was absolutely delicious. I used castellano olives, those odd-colored, large green olives. They worked really well. I left the pits in. I liked the rustic feel that it gave to the dish. We had the leftovers last night. I found that with each bite I kept saying, "OMG, this is amazing! OMG, this is delicious!" I couldn't stop saying that. I could eat it again right now. I won't be able to wait too long to make this again. By the way, I served this over very velvety mashed Yukon Gold potatoes. It was a perfect fit! Creamy, rich, flavorful bliss. Meghan VK, thank you so much for creating this! By the way, it went beautifully with a bottle of Spanish Verdelho. It just seemed right to stay in the neighborhood.
I'm so happy it worked for you! I like it with a rioja but I will have to look for a verdelho next time.
I made this tonight and it was delicious. Instead of cutting up a whole chicken, I used organic skinless chicken breasts. Next time I will make sure to use a good Spanish olive or a Castelveltrano. Have you tried this dish with Seville oranges or a combination of lemons and Sevilles? i am curious about how that would taste. I love any dish that requires only one pot, and this was a perfect one pot wonder. Because my lemons had lots of pith, I only left in 3/4 of one lemon for the baking, and took them out for the second day of reheating. Thanks for giving me another option for chicken!
I think just Seville oranges would be a bit too bitter... but a combination with lemons could be really interesting. I'll have to try it sometime. My friend used Meyer lemons and said it turned out great, so I want to try that, too. In any case, glad the recipe worked for you!
Made this for a dinner party on Friday night. HUGE hit. It was very easy to prep and only required one pot. I will make it again!
This sounds just wonderful, MeghanVK, and hav added the appropriate ingredients to my shopping list for next week. Thanks so much!
Yum! Made this the other night. Had the leftovers last night over rice with this radish & cucumber salad - http://www.food52.com/recipes/6592_radish_cucumber_salad
Congrats! This recipe sounds amazing.....looking forward to making it sooner than later! yummmmm......:o)
Megan,
This recipe sounds fabulous!!! ..and I'll be trying it this week.
Thanks in advance.
diane
One more note! I used meyer lemon pulp and juice instead of the quartered lemons, and I thought the lemon-orange flavor from the meyer lemons was great! :)
I'll have to try it with the Meyer lemons myself - great idea! Glad you liked it.
This was excellent, even enjoyed as leftovers! I loved the combo of flavors and the chicken was very tender. I served it with rice, which was a delicious pairing! I will definitely be making this again!
Made this last night...it really is amazing. The flavors are so wonderful and not too intense.
I'll be making this a regular in my repertoire. Can I make this without tomatoes? I am one of those people who get arthritis in my fingers when I eat tomatoes, and of course, I love them.
So glad you like it! You can definitely make it without the tomatoes - the original recipe that I adapted actually didn't call for them :) I would probably up the wine or add a bit of broth to make up for the lost moisture.
I really enjoyed this recipe though next time I may use one less lemon (admittedly my lemons were pretty huge...might have worked better with smaller lemons.) Not to say that the lemoniness was bad...I just like a subtler flavors, I think. Also, I found that the reheat on day 2 compounded the intensity of the lemon even further. But overall, I was really happy with how it turned out! The chicken was perfectly cooked, skin crispy...and the sauce...lovely rich creamy texture.
Made it last weekend and it was absolutely delicious! I foresee this recipe appearing frequently on my weekend menus in future :-)
I've made this twice this week. I never make anything twice ever. That is how much we love this. Thanks! :)
Ugh. I just came home and realized I forgot to get the wine for this recipe. How critical is it to this dish? Can I still do this without it, replacing it with stock or water? Or should I make a second run and get the wine?
I hate when that happens! Just use stock - it will still be good. You could also add a splash of dry sherry or vermouth if you have them lying around.
Thanks! I made it with stock. It was really, really delicious. Thanks for this recipe. I'll definitely be making this again.
I made this last night and it was wonderful. What other vegetables would you recommend we add if we wanted to diversify it a bit? Thanks!
Great question - I think it would be delicious with leeks and/or celery, or thinly sliced carrot. I'm also thinking about incorporating squash to get through this never-ending winter - either cubes of it with all of the vegetables, or cooked spaghetti squash right before it goes into the oven.
You can also try using red wine instead of white in the sauce - very different flavor!
Made this last night for dinner - only for 2, so used chicken thighs instead of whole - absolutely delicious.
I think I'm making this for Sunday dinner. I love the coating for the chicken. But I won't ruin it with a cilantro garnish...
Congrats on the win. ;)
I hope you like it! You could always save some of the fennel fronds and use that to gussy it up at the end - I love cilantro but I do get that it tastes a little like soap :)
Just made it and ate it and now I'm suffering an incredible case of food coma. Thanks! It was awesome!
Thank you! I feel a little nerdy for being so excited. Hope you enjoy.
Congratulations! Looking forward to trying this.
Saved in my recipes. Can't wait to make it.
Quick question: do I throw in the whole garlic cloves, crush 'em or chop 'em?
Just peel and leave 'em whole - they'll get very soft during the cooking process. Hope that helps!
Congratulations!
Trying it tonight--can't wait!!
This makes my mouth water :)
MeghanVK - I'm surprised I didn't see this when you submitted it, as this sounds seriously amazing and right up my alley. Your other recipes sound great too! Best of luck!
congrats to one of my favorite chefs! can't wait to make it.
Sounds awesome, but I'm going to tweak it and make it with seitan instead of chicken. Excited to try it!
Thanks! Please let me know how that works - my mom's a vegetarian, so I'd love to be able to share the recipe with her if it works out well for you.
Lovely looking chicken, even if it's got a skewed view of of its own origin! Congrats.
Congrats on being a finalist! This looks super tasty!
Your recipe sounds terrific. Congratulations on being a finalist!
Congrats on being a finalist! I bet this is amazing and can't wait to try it.
Congrats! This sounds really delicious.
Todd is an adventure traveler and co-founder of the premier coffee roasting company La Colombe Torrefaction.
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The roster of ingredients includes: cilantro, lemon, green olives, pecorino, tomato, smoked paprika, cinnamon, onion, flour, white wine, fennel and garlic.
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Prepping the veggies.
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You dredge the chicken pieces in flour mixed with pecorino, which gives the browned chicken a lovely crisp crust.
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Our trusted flour measuring technique: the dump and smooth.
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We use whole lemon quarters, but if yours have a lot of pith, you may want to use just the juice.
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Notice our matching outfits? Unplanned.
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A little smoked paprika goes into the dredging mixture, and then more goes into the sauce.
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Amanda is always generous with the ground pepper, which the rest of us love!
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See the shreds of pecorino in there? They're about to work their magic on the chicken.
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Look at that gorgeous brown skin!
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The lemons, onion, fennel, olives and the rest of the paprika go into the pot to soften and meld.
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An occasional stir helps the veggies cook down more evenly.
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And in about 10 minutes, they look like this!
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A bit of flour to thicken the sauce a little...
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Then we added the tomatoes and white wine, followed by the lemon zest. We recommend adding a healthy pinch or two of salt at this point, but taste first!
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Amanda just said something funny. Little devil.
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Made this a few months ago, it is the best chicken I've ever made and probably the best I've ever tasted! My friend and I couldn't believe how delicious it was. I cut back on the lemon zest just a bit.