5. Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter. Tip the roasting pan and spoon off all but a small amount of fat. Place the pan over the stove, turn the heat on to high, add 2 tablespoons of water, and while it boils away, use a wooden spoon to scrape loose any cooking residues stuck to the bottom. Pour the pan juices over the chicken and serve at once.
Pan-Roasted Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic, and White Wine
For 4 servings
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
A 3½-pound chicken, cut into 4 pieces
2 or 3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 sprig of fresh rosemary broken in two OR ½ teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ cup dry white wine
1. Put the butter and oil in a saute pan, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the butter foam begins to subside, put in the chicken quarters, skin side down.
2. Brown the chicken well on both sides, then add the garlic and rosemary. Cook the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold, and add salt, pepper, and the wine. Let the wine simmer briskly for about 30 seconds, then adjust heat to cook at a slow simmer, and put a lid on the pan, setting it slightly ajar. Cook until the bird’s thigh feels very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone, calculating between 20 and 25 minutes per pound. If while the chicken is cooking, you find the liquid in the pan has become insufficient, replenish it with 1 or 2 tablespoons water as needed.
3. When done, transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter, using a slotted spoon or spatula. Remove the garlic from the pan. Tip the pan, spooning off all but a little of the fat. Turn the heat up to high, and boil the water away while loosening cooking residues from the bottom and sides with a wooden spoon. Pour the pan juices over the chicken and serve at once.
Chicken Fricassee, Cacciatora Style
Cacciatora means hunter’s style, and since there has always been a hunter in nearly every Italian household, every Italian cook prepares a dish with a claim to that description. Making generous allowances for the uncounted permutations in the dishes that go by the cacciatora name, what they generally consist of is a chicken or rabbit fricassee with tomato, onion, and other vegetables. And that is exactly what this is.
For 4 to 6 servings
A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 6 to 8 pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Flour, spread on a plate
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
⅓ cup onion sliced very thin
⅔ cup dry white wine
1 sweet yellow or red bell pepper, seeds and core removed and cut into thin julienne strips
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin disks
½ stalk celery sliced thin crosswise
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped very fine
⅔ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped coarse, with their juice
1. Wash the chicken in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the chicken pieces without crowding them. Put in the oil and turn the heat on to medium high. When the oil is hot, turn the chicken in the flour, coat the pieces on all sides, shake off excess flour, and slip them into the pan, skin side down. Brown that side well, then turn them and brown the other side. Transfer them to a warm plate, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Turn the heat back on to medium high, put in the sliced onion, and cook the onion until it has become colored a deep gold. Add the wine. Let it simmer briskly for about 30 seconds while using a wooden spoon to scrape loose the browning residues on the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the browned chicken pieces to the pan, except for the breasts, which cook faster and will go in later. Add the bell pepper, carrot, celery, garlic, and the chopped tomatoes with their juice. Adjust heat to cook at a slow simmer, and put a lid on the pan to cover tightly. After 40 minutes add the breast and continue cooking at least 10 minutes more until the chicken thighs feel very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone. Turn and baste the chicken pieces from time to time while they are cooking.
4. When the chicken is done, transfer it to a warm serving platter, using a slotted spoon or spatula. If the contents of the pan are on the thin, watery side, turn the heat up to high under the uncovered pan, and reduce them to an appealing density. Pour the contents of the pan over the chicken and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note The dish can be cooked through to the end up to a day in advance. Let the chicken cool completely in the pan juices before refrigerating. Reheat in a covered pan at a slow simmer, turning the chicken pieces until they are warmed all the way through.
Chicken Cacciatora, New Version
THIS APPROACH to the cacciatora style is even simpler than the preceding one. There is less wine, no flour, and there are no other vegetables except for tomatoes and onion, which in this version are present in more prominent proportions, bestowing on the chicken a sweeter, fruitier flavor, somewhat like that of a very fresh pasta sauce. Also note that here olive oil replaces vegetable oil.
For 4 to 6 servings
A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 6 to 8 pieces
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup onion sliced very thin
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced very thin
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
⅓ cup dry white wine
1½ cups fresh, very ripe, firm meaty tomatoes, skinned raw with a peeler and chopped, OR canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1. Wash the chicken in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently contain all the chicken pieces without crowding them. Put in the olive oil and the sliced onion, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the onion, turning it occasionally, until it becomes translucent.
3. Add the sliced garlic and the chicken pieces, putting them in skin side facing down. Cook until the skin forms a golden crust, then turn the pieces and do the other side.
4. Add salt and several grindings of pepper, and turn the chicken pieces over 2 or 3 times. Add the wine, and let it simmer away until about half of it has evaporated.
5. Add the cut-up tomatoes, turn down the heat to cook at an intermittent simmer, and cover the pan, putting the lid on slightly askew. Turn and baste the chicken pieces from time to time while they are cooking. Whenever you find that the liquid in the pan becomes insufficient, add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook until the chicken thighs feel very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone, about 40 minutes.
Ahead-of-time note The recommendations in the preceding cacciatora recipe are applicable here.
Chicken Fricassee with Porcini Mushrooms, White Wine, and Tomatoes
For 4 servings
A 3½-pound chicken, cut into 4 pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ cup dry white wine
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted as described and cut up
The filtered water from the mushroom soak, see instructions
¼ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped coarse, with their juice
1 tablespoon butter
1. Wash the chicken in cold water and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Put the oil in a saute pan, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the oil is very hot, slip in the chicken pieces, skin side down. Brown them well on that side, then turn them and brown the other side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, turn them once, then add the wine. Let the wine simmer briskly for 30 seconds as you scrape loose browning residue from the bottom and sides of the pan with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the chopped recon
stituted porcini, the filtered water from their soak, and the chopped tomatoes with their juice. Turn over all ingredients then adjust heat to cook at a slow simmer, and put a lid, slightly ajar, on the pot. Cook until the bird’s thighs feel very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone, about 50 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces from time to time while they are cooking.
4. When the chicken is done, transfer it to a warm serving platter. Tip the pan and spoon off all but a little of the fat. If the juices in the pan are too thin, boil them down over high heat. Swirl into them the 1 tablespoon of butter, then pour all the contents of the pan over the chicken and serve at once.
Chicken Fricassee with Red Cabbage
IN THIS FRICASSEE, chicken pieces cook smothered in red cabbage, which keeps them tender and invests them with some of its own sweetness. By the time the chicken is done, the cabbage dissolves into a dense, clinging sauce.
For 4 servings
1 cup onion sliced very thin
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tablespoon
2 garlic cloves, peeled and each cut into 4 pieces
4 cups red cabbage shredded fine, about 1 pound
A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
½ cup dry red wine
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Salt
1. Put the sliced onion, the ¼ cup oil, and the garlic in a saute pan, turn the heat on to medium, and cook the garlic until it becomes colored a deep gold. Add the shredded cabbage. Stir thoroughly to coat well, sprinkle with salt, stir again, adjust heat to cook at a gentle simmer, and put a lid on the pan. Cook the cabbage for 40 minutes or more, turning it over from time to time, until it has become very tender and considerably reduced in bulk.
2. Wash the chicken pieces in cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
3. In another pan, put in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, turn on the heat to medium, and, after warming up the oil very briefly, put in all the chicken pieces skin side down in a single layer. Turn the chicken after a little while to brown the pieces equally on both sides, then transfer them to the other pan, all except the breast, which you’ll hold aside until later. Turn the chicken over in the cabbage, add the wine and a few grindings of pepper, cover the pan, putting the lid on slightly ajar, and continue cooking at a slow, steady simmer. From time to time turn the chicken pieces over, sprinkling them once with salt. After 40 minutes add the breasts. Cook for about 10 minutes more, until the chicken is tender all the way through and the meat comes easily off the bone. You will no longer be able to recognize the cabbage as such; it will have become a dark, supple sauce for the chicken. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note The dish can be prepared up to this point even 2 or 3 days in advance. Reheat completely in a covered pan before proceeding to the next step.
Fricasseed Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon Juice
For 4 servings
A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 sprig of fresh rosemary OR 1 teaspoon dried leaves
3 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
⅓ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon peel with none of the white pith, cut into 6 thin julienne strips
1. Wash the chicken pieces in cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the chicken pieces without overlapping. Put in the oil and butter, turn the heat on to medium high, and when the butter foam begins to subside, put in the chicken, skin side down. Brown the chicken on both sides, then add the rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, turning the chicken pieces from time to time, then remove the breast and set aside.
3. Add the wine, let it bubble at a brisk simmer for about 20 seconds, then adjust the heat to cook at a very slow simmer, and put a lid on the pan slightly ajar. After 40 minutes return the breast to the pan. Cook for 10 minutes more at least, until the thighs of the chicken feel very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone. While it’s cooking, check the liquid in the pot from time to time. If it becomes insufficient, replenish with 2 or 3 tablespoons water.
4. When the chicken is done, remove from heat and transfer the pieces to a warm serving platter, using a slotted spoon or spatula. Tip the pan and spoon off all but a little bit of the fat. Add the lemon juice and lemon peel, place the pan over medium-low heat, and use a wooden spoon to scrape loose cooking residues from the bottom and sides. Pour the pan juices over the chicken and serve at once.
Fricasseed Chicken with Egg and Lemon, Marches Style
LIKE THE LAMB CHOPS in this recipe, this chicken is cooked, then tossed with a raw mixture of beaten egg yolks and lemon juice, which the heat of the meat seizes on to form a clinging, satiny coat.
For 4 servings
A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
3 tablespoons onion chopped very fine
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 cup Basic Homemade Meat Broth, prepared as directed, OR 1 bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup water
2 egg yolks (see warning about salmonella poisoning)
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1. Wash the chicken pieces in cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with cloth or paper towels.
2. Choose a sauté pan that can later accommodate all the chicken pieces without overlapping. Put in the butter and chopped onion, turn the heat on to medium, and cook the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Turn the heat up a little, and put in the chicken, skin side down. Brown the pieces thoroughly on both sides.
3. Add salt and pepper, turn the chicken pieces over, then remove the breasts from the pan. Add all the broth, adjust heat to cook at a very gentle simmer, and cover the pan with the lid on well ajar. After 40 minutes, return the breast to the pan and cook for at least 10 minutes more, until the thighs feel very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone. While it’s cooking, turn the chicken from time to time. If the broth should become insufficient, add 2 or 3 tablespoons water when needed. When the chicken is done, however, there should be no liquid left in the pan. If you find watery juices in the pan, uncover, turn the heat up to high, and boil them away, turning the chicken pieces frequently as you do so. Take the pan off heat, leaving the chicken in.
4. Put the egg yolks in a small bowl and beat them lightly with a fork or whisk while slowly adding the lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the chicken pieces, tossing to coat them well. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter, and serve at once.
Grilled Chicken alla Diavola, Roman Style
IN ROME they call this the devil’s chicken because of the diabolical quantity of the crushed black peppercorns that are used. Actually, although it is indeed peppery, its most striking quality is its fragrance, a medley of the aromas of the grill, of the black pepper, and of lemon.
For this preparation, the chicken must be split open and pounded flat. The butcher can easily do it, but so can you, following the directions in the recipe. Before it is grilled it must be rubbed with peppercorns, and marinated for at least 2 hours in lemon juice and olive oil. It’s an ideal dish for a cookout because you can prepare the chicken in the kitchen, put it with its marinade in one of those plastic bags with an airtight closure, and take it with you. By the time your fire is ready later in the day, the chicken will be ready too.
For 4 to 6 servings
A 3½-pound chicken
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
OPTIONAL: a charcoal or
wood-burning grill
Salt
1. The chicken must be flattened either by you or the butcher into a shape that will look more like that of a butterfly than of a bird. If you are doing it, place the chicken on a work counter with the breast facing down. Using a cleaver or a chopping knife, split it open along the entire backbone. Crack the breastbone from behind, spreading the chicken as flat as you can with your hands. Turn it over with its breast facing you. Make cuts where the wings and legs join the body, without detaching them, but for the purpose of spreading them out flat. Turn the chicken over, the breast facing down again, and pound it as flat as you can, using a meat pounder or the flat side of a cleaver.
2. Wrap the peppercorns in a towel and crack them with a mallet, a meat pounder, or a hammer. If you have a mill that can crack peppercorns very coarse, you can use that instead. Put the chicken in a deep dish, and rub the cracked peppercorns into it, covering as much of it as you can. Pour the lemon juice and olive oil over it, and let steep for 2 to 3 hours, turning it and basting it from time to time.
3. If cooking the chicken in an indoor broiler, preheat it at least 15 minutes in advance. If using charcoal, light it in sufficient time to form a coat of white ash; if using wood, in time to produce a substantial quantity of embers.
4. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, and place it on the broiler pan, if indoors, on the grill, if outdoors, with the skin side facing the source of heat. Cook until the skin becomes colored brown, then baste it with a little of its marinade, and turn it over. Turn the bird from time to time until it is fully cooked. The thigh must feel very tender when prodded with a fork. The cooking time varies considerably, depending on the intensity of the fire, and on the chicken itself. Should you run out of liquid from the marinade before the chicken is done, baste it with fresh olive oil. When it is ready, sprinkle with fresh-cracked pepper, and serve at once.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 37