Braising 101 with Alice Waters: the most important idea here is to really brown the chicken skin before adding the liquid to your braise, so that the color doesn’t wash off during cooking. Braising might seem like a slow-cook technique, but it doesn’t mean you will spend a long time in the kitchen. Once you are done browning your meat, and add in the liquid and ingredients to cook, you can go off and do your thing, while the delicious smell of this dish fills the house. That’s half the fun.
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Chicken Legs Braised with Tomatoes, Onions and Garlic
- Cook Time: 75
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- Chicken legs
- Salt and freshly-ground pepper
- 3 Tbs olive oil
- 2 onions, sliced thick
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 rosemary sprig
- Tomatoes diced coarsely,or can organic whole tomatoes, diced (inc. juice)
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Season the chicken, the day before if possible, with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add olive oil then place the chicken into the pan skin side down and cook until crisp, about 12 minutes. Turn and cook another 4 minutes. Remove chicken and add the sliced onions, cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, bay and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan as you cook for 5 minutes.
- Place the chicken back in the pan skin side up and pour in any juices that have collected. Pour in the broth – the liquid should reach halfway up the chicken. Add more if needed. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer. Cover and cook at a low simmer or in a 325 degrees F oven for 45 minutes. When done, pour the braising liquid into a small bowl and skim the fat. Discard the bay leaf and rosemary. Adjust seasoning, return to the pan and serve.
- Serve with a green salad dressed with one of Alice Waters’ three essential sauces: the classic vinaigrette. Once you’ve made your own vinaigrette, you will never buy yourself another pre-made dressing again. 1 part red wine vinegar, 3-4 parts olive oil, a dash of lemon juice and salt and pepper, of course. Mustard or herbs if you are inclined. Combine the ingredients in this order: vinegar, salt to taste (make sure you taste it!), black pepper, and then whisk in the olive oil. Adjust as needed. If you choose to add mustard, do so before adding the oil. Herbs go in at the end.
Notes
- Not Included in Large Real Food Boxes: Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, Chicken Broth