Serving up Spanish comfort food today. This Andalucian Braised Chicken is full of olives, sherry and saffron. Ingredients that epitomize the Spanish south.
I celebrated a special day yesterday, my wedding anniversary. So, technically there were two of us celebrating. I was inspired after a family bike ride through the local countryside, to break out the sherry and olives to make something a little more local. Have I ever eaten this in a restaurant around here? Well, not really. However, it contains all the yummy local stuff that you find in many dishes around these parts. This is just kind of my interpretation, which is pretty much what happens in all my dishes. We also had a great bottle of Rioja, a simple salad, bread, pilaf rice and, a not so Spanish dessert, of apple crumble. I am still full.
Notes About The Andalucian Braised Chicken
- If you are not used to cooking with sherry, it is pretty much the same as cooking with wine. Sherry enhances so many sauces, stews and more. The variety of sherry around here is almost overwhelming and I am, by far, not an expert. You can click one of the hyper links “sherry“, and read about it if you feel like learning a bit more. Originally I was going to use white wine in this dish, but didn’t have any in the house. But there was lots of sherry and it made this dish 100% Andalucian inspired
- If after making this dish, your chicken isn’t browned as you like it, put it under a hot grill in the oven for just about 5 minutes. Just make sure the skillet you are using is oven proof. An extra note; if you aren’t too sure about the flavour of sherry, cut back the quantity and add more stock.
Andalucian Braised Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 small chicken thighs skin and fatty bits removed
- 1 Cup chicken stock
- 3/4 Cup sherry
- 4 cloves Garlic crushed
- Pinch of saffron threads
- 1/2 Cup green olives halved without stones
- 2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt
- 1 small onion roughly chopped
- 1 Bay leaf
- Small bunch roughly chopped parsley
- 1 Tablespoon corn flour
- 2 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a small saucepan heat the stock with the bay leaf and saffron. Bring to a gentle simmer and remove from heat.
- In a large skillet set over medium to high heat, add the olive oil, and garlic. Season the chicken with salt and add to the pan. Brown the chicken on each side for around 3-4 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and keep warm. In the reserved skillet, add the onions and a couple of tablespoons of the stock to de glaze the pan. Turn heat to medium low and let the onion cook for a further 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little stock if necessary.
- Return the chicken to the pan and add the vinegar, stock, sherry and olives. Give a good stir and bring to a gentle boil. In a small glass, mix the corn flour with the 2 tablespoons of water and stir until smooth. Slowly add this mixture to the pan and whisk until you have a thickened sauce. Turn heat to low, cover and leave to cook for a further 25 minutes.
- Sprinkle over fresh parsley and serve with a side dish of rice
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Thanks For Stopping By & Hope To see You Soon!
