Boston Food Blog | Recipe Journal and Boston Restaurant Reviews

Chicken

Braised Chicken Breast with Fennel and Heirloom Tomatoes

This dish can also be made with chicken legs, which might actually hold up better to the braising process, but I already had bought the breasts and being bone-in, thought they’d work just fine.  Braising meat is so sensual.  It fills your house with amazing aromas and truly is a labor of love.  In the past, I’ve done my fair share of braising things like lamb shanks (awesome with polenta and broccoli), duck legs (try them with orange zest and almonds) and the traditional pork shoulder.  Chicken does just as well in the braise, so I suggest you try this for yourself.

Braising is a process of first searing the meat at very high heat and then cooking it slowly at fairly low heat, usually involving some sort of liquid.  The slow nature of this cooking method breaks down the connective tissue in the meat and leaves an incredibly tender finish to your dish.  One key piece of equipment that you’ll need is a heavy bottomed pot like a Le Creuset dutch oven or a cast iron skillet with a tightly fitting lid.

In this method, I use lots of aromatic vegetables (fennel, onion, carrots, leeks) and herbs (rosemary, bay leaves, fennel fronds) to accentuate the chicken and create and excellent broth.  I then took the broth, reduced it and served it on the side with egg noodles and some fresh sauteed cauliflower, but you can really use any sort of veggies you want to.  This recipe is derived from Alice Waters and is truly classic French comfort food at its best.  Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2-4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• 1 medium yellow onion – chopped
• 1 large or 2 medium carrots – washed and chopped into medium cubes
• 1 large leek – halved, cleaned and sliced into half moons
• 1 medium/large fennel bulb – chopped  (reserve the fronds)
• 1 large (Heirloom if in season) tomato – large dice
• 1 large or 2 small stalks rosemary
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic – diced
• 1/2 – 3/4 cups dry white wine
• ~1 cup chicken stock – warmed

• ~3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• Salt and pepper

Method:
Season the chicken liberally with salt and coarse black pepper – do this hours in advance if possible.

Preheat your oven to 325 F.

Take your pan/pot and over high heat until very hot, add you olive oil but don’t let it smoke.  Add in the chicken breasts, skin side down, and sear them until the one side has a lot of color – about 10-12 minutes.  Flip the breasts and cook them on the other side for 4-5 minutes.  Remove the chicken to a plate.

Lower the heat on the pot and add in the onion, carrots and butter, stirring all the while and making sure the onion doesn’t burn. 

Once the onion begins to become translucent, add in the fennel and leeks and cook until the vegetables are almost cooked all the way through, though still al dente. At this point, add in the garlic, rosemary, bay leaf and a few of the fennel fronds (chopped) and combine with the vegetables.  Cook together for another few minutes.

Add in the wine and with a wooden spoon, pick up any of the brown bits of chicken and vegetables stuck to the bottom of the pan (deglaze it).  Cook until the wine is reduced by half – 2-3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook them until they become soft and season with more salt as necessary.

At this point, you should add the chicken back to the pot on top, but sort of nestled into the vegetables.  You should then add the stock, making sure that the liquid level only reaches up to about halfway up the chicken (you may need to adjust the amount of stock you use).

Cover the pot and place into your pre-heated oven and cook for about 30 minutes (longer if you’re cooking chicken legs or theighs).  When done, take the chicken legs out and place the post of braising liquid on the stove and reduce for a few minutes.  You can then serve some of these vegetables with some egg noodles or on their own alongside the chicken.  If you have some leftover chicken, add it back to the braising liquid for an awesome chicken soup!  Enjoy!