North African chicken

Braised Thighs, Olive, Potatoes, Chiles, Fingerlings in Tomato Broth

Recipe courtesy Michael Symon

Prep Time:

30 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

45 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 to 4 tablespoons blended oil
• 2 shallots, halved, peeled then sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 3 Fresno chiles, sliced into rings
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 12 fingerling potatoes, halved
• 2 to 3 cups Chicken Stock, recipe follows
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand and half the can of juice/sauce
• 2 cups pitted cerignola olives
• 1 cup pitted oil-cured olives
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
• Zest of 1 orange
• 
  
• Salad
• 1/2 shallot, minced
• Splash sherry vinegar
• Salt
• 1 orange, zested, supremed and juiced
• 1 small bunch fresh basil leaves
• 1 small bunch arugula
• Sea salt

• Chicken Stock
• 2 pounds chicken backs and necks
• 2 pounds chicken feet, or additional backs and necks
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns

Directions

Place a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place the chicken pieces onto a paper towel and pat dry to help create extra-crispy skin. Season the chicken thighs on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the blended oil to the pot and add the chicken thighs, skin-side down and allow to sear until golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Flip and continue to brown moving the thighs to the side of the pan. To the other side of the pan, add the shallots, garlic, sliced Fresno chiles, salt, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and stir to combine. Add the fingerling potatoes and season with kosher salt. Add about 2 cups chicken stock or enough to come 2/3 of the way up the meat and add the whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand, along with half the juices/sauce. Stir in the cerignola olives, oil-cured olives, and kalamata olives. Taste the mixture and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Lower the heat to medium and cover with a lid. Cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When ready to serve, add the orange zest and stir to combine.
For the salad:
Place the shallots, vinegar, and salt in a medium bowl. Zest the orange. Using a sharp knife, remove the peel and pith from the orange. Holding the orange over a bowl (to catch any juice), supreme or segment the orange. Set the supremes aside. Squeeze the remaining orange membrane into the bowl to collect all the orange juice. Whisk in about 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil. Taste and season with salt, if needed.
To another medium bowl, toss in 1 small bunch fresh basil leaves and a small bunch arugula leaves. Add a small amount of dressing and toss to combine.
For serving:
Plate the chicken pieces onto a serving platter. Top with the potatoes, olives, and tomatoes. Season the chicken mixture with sea salt and top with the dressed greens. Serve with remaining sauce alongside the table.

Rinse the chicken parts thoroughly. In a 10-quart stockpot, combine the onion, carrot, garlic, thyme, salt, bay leaf, peppercorns, and 1 gallon cold water. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, skimming and discarding any foam and impurities that rise to the surface. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 5 hours, skimming the surface as necessary. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the solids.
Makes 3 quarts

I saw a very tasty dish on the Food Channel and tried it out with Mom and Meagan as my guinea pigs... And, it was delicious!

Hmmm.... it won't let me copy and past the recipe OR copy and paste the link! This blogging thing may not be for me. We better stick to the experts: sunsetintherearview and esimmonsphoto!

But, if you're interested in this chicken goodness, go to: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/ and search recipes, Michael Symon, Braised Thighs, Olive, Potatoes, Chilies, Fingerling Potatoes in Tomato Broth :)

I basically followed the recipe all the way through except I added a little extra of each of the spices that were called for (you know me, I like to kick it up a notch) and I only used two out of the three recommended types of olives. I did that because I couldn't find the other at Whole Foods. I liked the new type of olive M.S used, but it's not really worth the trouble unless you can find them already seeded. Luckily, Meagan was my sous-chef and I gave her that annoying task-- she loved it!

Also, I tasted the dish while it was boiling away and it had quite the kick because of the chilies, so I added about a tablespoon (or a big squirt ;) of honey. Waala!

Definitely top it with the arugula salad, or serve it on the side like we did; it was the perfect balance and fresh crunch to this dish. One last tip, I used a little bit of orange juice in the dressing I made for the simple salad and the best Texas oranges made it super yummy. The zest too!

I hope you all try this, it was fun and good! GOOSEY: I recommend you NOT use the chilies. Otherwise, I think you'd like it.

Love,
A girl who likes to cook...and be the head chef. hahahhahahahaha (Am I funny? Because that made me laugh at myself).


I love you all, Queens of Foodies, Princesses of the kitchen!

xo, princess winnie 
credit:http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/cook/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,COOK_41503_495034_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html