Chicken

Braised Chicken with Eggplant, Served with Parmesan Orzo

Tonight was one of those nights when there wasn’t much in the house, it was raining all day, and I didn’t feel like venturing back out into the night to face the perils of the grocery store. I was rummaging through the pantry and I had, luckily, defrosted some chicken, and with only a few ingredients I whipped up this dish. It turned out to be better than I expected: cozy, full of flavor, and an excellent way to make two bone-in chicken breasts feed four people. I will definitely be making this again.

The Chicken:

Ingredients:

• Two bone-in, split breast chicken breasts
• 1-2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small or one large onion, sliced (red or white or both)
• 4 - 5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

• 1 large eggplant, peeled in one inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 small can of whole tomatoes in sauce (I prefer San Marzano)
• 2 cups of red wine
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• crushed red pepper (to taste)
• 2 tablespoons of capers
• Salt and pepper

Begin by seasoning the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Lightly coat with the flour. In a dutch oven, or a deep pot that has a lid, brown the chicken breasts, one side at a time, in the olive oil over high heat (this usually takes about 5 minutes per side). Remove the chicken breasts from the pan.

In the same pan, add the onions and about a teaspoon of salt and cook until they begin to become translucent, stirring as necessary. Add the garlic and the eggplant. If you want to taste spice, add the crushed red pepper now.

Cook the vegetables until the eggplant starts to soften, about three or four minutes. Add the tomato paste and the wine. Stir until the tomato paste is dissolved, thickening the wine. Cook about four or five minutes, or until much of the alcohol cooks off. Add the tomatoes and the chicken stock. Stir to combine. Add the browned chicken breasts to the liquid. Cover and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes. Add the capers and serve!

Parmesan Orzo

This is a great and simple side dish for any braised dish. Try substituting the parsley with poppy seeds for a different rendition with great texture.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups orzo

• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, or butter, or both
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed using a garlic press
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• Salt and crushed red pepper to taste

Cook the orzo pasta until al dente and drain. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir and serve immediately.

© 2008 The Fresh Dish.