Tomorrow I’m having my wisdom teeth removed, and resigning myself to a few days of liquid lunches. And not the fun, Mad-Men-martinis-at-lunch kind of liquid lunches, either. I have planned to make a bunch of juices and smoothies for these coming days, but before the pain begins, I wanted to make something very delicious for dinner, a kind of tasty send-off for my taste buds. This piquant, slow cooked chicken fit the bill perfectly.
I adapted this from a recipe in the September issue of Bon Appetit. It was one of those recipes that instantly appealed to me, although reading the ingredients made me pause to wonder how good it could really be. Now I know, it’s very good. The sauce is full of intense flavor, the chicken is tender, and the green beans I added ended up perfectly cooked. I rarely produce these kinds of classic square meals (look at that, a meat and two sides), but this was so easy, I have a feeling it will be repeated and varied many times in my kitchen.
I’m not usually a big fan of green beans, although I want to be. I find them difficult to cook just right, and I don’t love that they are sometimes kind of squeaky between the teeth. Plus, I think they are a pain in the butt to trim. But last night I got kind of zen about the trimming, and I think these might have been some of the best beans I’ve ever prepared. I threw them into the pan with the chicken and sauce a few minutes before the chicken was finished, then continued to cook them in the sauce while it reduced. They retained a bit of bite, but none of the squeakiness that makes me cringe. And cooking in the sauce gave them a ton of flavor.
I made a few other substitutions from the BA recipe: I didn’t have fresh parsley, so I used dried oregano instead. And I decided to substitute verjus for the white wine vinegar. I suspect any type of vinegar would work. I’d love to try this apple cider vinegar.
What’s going to make this dish excellent is to buy a good chicken, and to use good chicken stock. We buy nearly all of our meat at Whole Foods, and I have to say that it is worth the extra cost. I like to know that it’s raised humanely, and most of their meat has a richer, rounder taste than what I’ve found in most supermarkets. I would like to say that I used my own chicken stock for this dish, but I didn’t. I used stock from a box, but it was excellent stock: golden in color and viscous, not watery. If you, like most people, don’t always have your own homemade stock on hand, find a brand that you love and keep some on hand. I have had great luck with Pacific Natural Foods and with the Whole Foods brand of organic, low-sodium stock.
The things that is especially great about this dinner is that prep is easy, and then you can let it sit and do its thing with little to no attention from you. That is my kind of dinner.
And yes, I did make a lid for my skillet from tin foil.
I made up a quick pot of couscous to serve this with, and it was an excellent combination. I will be thinking of this wonderful, homey meal while I’m subsisting on smoothies and ice cream over the next few days. Actually, now that I think of it, that doesn’t sound half bad…
| Braised Chicken with Capers and Green Beans |
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 bone-in chicken legs (thigh and drumstick)
- salt
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1-2 tablespoons capers (with a bit of the caper liquid)
- 1/3 cup verjus
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth
- about 2-3 cups trimmed green beans
- Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the onions and saute until they are beginning to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt. Move the onions in the pan to make room for the chicken legs, then add them to the skillet, skin side down. Let them cook until browned, about 5 to 6 minutes, then flip them over.
- Sprinkle the dried oregano over the chicken, then add the capers and a bit of liquid to the pan. Add the verjus, then the chicken broth, and cover the skillet. Let the liquid come to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 45 minutes.
- Add the green beans to the skillet, then cover again. Continue to braise the chicken and green beans for another five minutes, then remove the chicken to a cutting board. Turn the heat up under the skillet until the liquid comes to a rolling, furious boil. Cook the liquid and the green beans together, using a whisk to scrape the pan and stir things up, until the liquid has thickened into a nice pan sauce. Season to taste with salt, if necessary.
- Pull the meat from the chicken bones and serve with the green beans, and some kind of grain or pasta side, if you like, drizzling the pan sauce and capers over the chicken and beans.