Braised Chicken and Tomato

     The early 1990's must have been an interesting time to cook. Based on cookbooks from the era like my well-worn copy of Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine, everything looked like a hot mess. Lots of earth tones and frightening sauces. I love that sort of shit. This recipe comes from the aforementioned book and is super easy to make. It turns out a really nice sauce that's good over rice or egg noodles. Give it a try and relive the days of grunge rock, Tamogotchis and Hypercolor shirts! As always, notes and changes are in blue.

Braised Chicken and Tomato
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds chicken, cut into sections, washed and skinned
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons butter (I wound up using 5 for reasons still not entirely understood)
• 2 dry shallots, peeled and chopped (None on hand. I used one chopped red onion)
• 1/2 pound fresh mushroom, cleaned and halved
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock, heated
• 1-1/2 teaspoon basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• (I substituted the previous 6 items with one quart of my own garlic basil canned tomatoes and 1/2 cup water. Nothing really groundbreaking, my canned stuff pretty much had everything they asked for all in one)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (180C, Gasmark 4)
2. Dredge chicken pieces in flour
3. Heat butter in ovenproof pan (I used my trusty cast iron enameled Dutch oven) over medium heat, Add chicken pieces and sear on all sides for 8-10 minutes.
4. Add shallots (or onions), garlic, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. Season and cook 6 minutes over medium heat (since I used my own mix, I added the onions and mushrooms for 4-5 minutes, then dumped my canned tomatoes in)
5. Incorporate wine, chicken stock and basil (I skipped this part since I was kind of doing my own thing at this point). Bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes in the oven.

Good Times!