Chicken in Red Wine Vinegar Sauce
Adapted from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells If you want to use other pieces of chicken, feel free to. (This recipe can be made with 4 to 5 pounds, 2 to 2.25kg, of any bone-in chicken parts.) The chicken should get well-browned. The original recipe said to use a skillet but if you have a Dutch oven, I’d use that. If so, if you have one of those splatter screens, this is the time to use it. Should you not have a tomato peeler, cut an x in the bottom of the two tomatoes, plop them in a small pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds, then rinse them in a strainer or colander with cold running water. The skins will slip off. Cut them in half around the equator, squeeze out the seeds, and dice them into small pieces. Do-ahead folks will love this recipe as it’s just as good the second day. You can let the chicken and sauce cool, then refrigerate. Rewarm the chicken and the sauce in a covered pot.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken cut into 8 pieces; two legs, two thighs and two breasts (with wings attached) split crosswise, at room temperature
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon, plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup (250ml) chicken stock
- 1 cup (250ml) good-quality red wine vinegar
- 2 medium tomatoes peeled, seeded, and diced
- flat-leaf parsley or another chopped herb, for garnish
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry and season the pieces with salt and pepper.
- Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or wide skillet. When the oil is hot, brown the chicken parts in two batches, starting them skin side down, turning them only when they are well-browned on one side. Once the pieces from the first batch are well-browned on both sides, remove the pieces and put in a bowl or plate and cook the second batch. When the second batch of chicken parts are well-browned, put them with the other browned chicken pieces and pour any excess fat out of the pan and dispose of it properly or use it to make bird suet).
- Add about one-quarter of the stock to the pan and scrape the bottom to lift and incorporate all the browned bits. Add the chicken to the pan – as well as any liquid in the bottom of the bowl or plate they were resting in – and the vinegar. (The original recipes warns of kitchen-cleaning vinegar fumes, so be prepared, although I didn’t experience that.) Cook over medium heat, turning the chicken pieces a few times, until the vinegar is reduced by about half, about ten minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and the rest of the chicken stock. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes, turning the chicken pieces over midway during cooking, until the chicken is cooked through. To test, pull a piece of one of the thickest pieces of chicken meat away from the bone to make sure it’s fully cooked.
- Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, cut in pieces, to the warm pan liquid, swirling it around until the butter is melted. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if desired. Serve with wide noodles, sauteed greens like Swiss chard or kale, or mashed potatoes with some of the sauce. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, or another favorite herb.