Poulet Saute Portugais
4-8 servings (depending on the size of the chicken pieces)
Ingredients:
4 boneless skin-on thighs and 4 boneless skin-on boneless breast quarters,
1 cup buttermilk
2-4 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 ½ cups peeled and diced tomatoes (2-3 large) with juice
½ cup shallot sliced in rings
1 tablespoon thinly sliced garlic cloves
¼ teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
4 large fresh Italian parsley sprigs
6 two inch sprigs of fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons – 1/2 cup Tawny Port (as desired, chicken stock can be substituted for the remainder of the Port if less than ½ cup is used)
1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste
Roux (if required)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons flour
Vegetables
12 Cipolline onions or 24 pearl onions
3 cups red bell pepper sliced in 2” long matchsticks (approximately 2 large red bell peppers, washed, seeds and any white membrane removed)
¾ cup Castelvetrano olives
¾ cup small black olives
¾ cup quartered (each piece about the same size as the olives) portobello mushroom caps
12 halved cherry tomatoes
Garnish
Snipped parsley
Preparation:
Place chicken in a bowl with the buttermilk. Cover and place in the icebox for 24 hours.
Onion bulbs
Place 4 cups of cold water in a bowl.
Bring 2 cups of cold water to a boil.
Add pearl onions to the boiling water.
Boil for 3 minutes.
Drain onions and plunge into cold water.
When cool, slice off the basil plate and root.
Grasping the bulb at the top of the tunic, hold the bulb, root end down, and apply pressure until the bulb pops out of the peel. Discard peel. Place bulbs in a bowl.
Cover and place in ice box.
Tomatoes
Place 4 cups of cold water in a bowl.
Bring 2 cups of cold water to a boil.
Wash tomatoes.
Incise an “X” in the bottom of each tomato
Add 1 cup of the tomatoes to the boiling water.
Boil for 25 seconds.
Lift tomatoes from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and place in cold water.
When cool, slice off the basil plate and root.
Starting at the center of the incised “X” remove peel with a downward motion. Continue until all of the peel has been removed.
Discard peel. Place tomato in a bowl.
Repeat with the rest of the tomatoes in one cup increments.
Cover and place in ice box.
Make sauce when the chicken is placed in the ice box to marinate.
Cut tomatoes to approximately the same size as the olives.
Slice, and carefully separate the rings of the shallots.
Wash fresh herbs.
Heat a frying pan (do not use a cast iron skillet as the tomatoes will
taste “tinny”) over medium high heat.
When hot, add 1 teaspoon oil.
Add shallots to skillet and saute until the shallots are tender. Do not brown.
Add tomatoes, garlic, parsley, paprika, thyme, chicken stock and port.
Simmer, uncovered, for an hour.. Carefully swirl the pan occasionally.
Remove from heat.
Whisk in mustard and tomato paste.
Place in a bowl, cover, and place in the icebox.
A hour before the time to cook the chicken, remove the chicken from the icebox.
Remove pieces from the buttermilk. Discard buttermilk.
Allow chicken to come to room temperature.
Prepare a casserole dish, with cover, that is large enough to hold the chicken pieces in a single layer.
Brush the sides and bottom of the casserole dish with oil.
Remove the sauce from the ice box and warm in a saucepan over low heat. Do not boil or scorch.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
When the chicken is at room temperature, heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
When hot, add 2 teaspoons oil.
When the oil shimmers, place thighs in the cast iron skillet, skin side down. Do not crowd the pieces.
Brown the skin side of the chicken (approximately 4-5 minutes).
When browned, flip each thigh over with a tong and brown that side (approximately 4-5 minutes).
When both sides are browned, distribute the sauce over the bottom of the casserole.
Place the chicken pieces in the prepared casserole, skin side up.
If necessary, add oil (by teaspoon full) to the cast iron skillet. Place breast quarter in the cast iron skillet, skin side down. Do not crowd the pieces.
Brown the skin side of the chicken (approximately 4-5 minutes).
When browned, flip each breast quarter over with tongs and brown that side (approximately 4-5 minutes).
When both sides are browned, place the breast quarters, skin side up, in the prepared casserole, with all pieces of chicken in a single layer in the casserole.
While chicken is braising, if necessary, add a teaspoon of oil to the cast iron skillet.
Place the casserole in the oven.
Braise for approximately 1 hour or until the chicken reaches 165°F. Chicken should not be pink. Juices should run clear. The time will depend on the size and thickness of the pieces.
While the chicken is in the oven, add the mushrooms to the skillet that was used to brown the chicken and saute until the mushrooms begin to sweat.
Add bell pepper. Saute until tender crisp.
Add bulb onions and olives. Turn off heat.
When chicken is done, discard thyme sprigs and parsley. Turn off the oven.
Remove chicken pieces to a clean casserole and cover.
If the sauce is at the desired thickness, proceed to plating. If not, place grapeseed oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Sift flour over the grapeseed oil and whisk until smooth. Allow roux to become a light brown.
Add the sauce from the casserole dish and whisk continuously until it reaches the desired thickness.
Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cover.
Plating
Heat vegetables in the skillet.
When hot, divide the vegetables among the serving plates, being sure that the variety of vegetables is represented.
Use tongs to place a piece of chicken on top of the vegetables.
Spoon sauce over the chicken.
Garnish with snipped parsley.
Serve.