Chicken with Tomatoes and Honey

I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and extra cranky Friday morning. Dr. ordered bed rest is one thing; at least I am allowed to still leave the apt. and go for a walk or take care of an errand or two just to break up the monotony. What really set me over the edge was the sentence of house arrest I got from the plumber after we woke up to a leak in one of our radiators. He was very busy, pipes were bursting and leaking all over the city, folks wanted work done yesterday, he'd get here as soon as he could, but he wouldn't commit to a time and possibly not even commit to showing up on Friday at all, that's how busy he was. Tom wasn't going to be home, it was my job to wait for the plumber to maaaaybe show up. There was a small window of 45 minutes before Tom left for the day to throw on some clothes, decide what we were having for dinner, go get the groceries for it and come back before the house arrest started. I grabbed any old cookbook and just started flipping through, I was under pressure and uninspired and resentful that I had to be forced to stay in all day and I had no idea what I even wanted for dinner. Three, four, five cookbooks later, time running out, sweat gathering on my brow, I finally picked a recipe and jotted down the ingredients more because I liked the photo and less because I REALLY wanted to cook that particular dish. Turns out the only thing I needed was chicken, good thing the butcher was just around the corner because I had ten minutes before Tom had to leave...

The plumber surprised me and showed up at 2:30, took 1/2 hour to fix the leak and was a really nice man. Imagine my horror when, after he left, I went into the bedroom to change into a t-shirt and found that I had been wearing my sweater inside out and backwards the whole day! Sheesh, with my morning hat hair and the sweater weirdness he must of thought I was a loon.

Dinner turned out pretty good. Sometimes when I least expect it, usually when I'm in no mood to cook and feeling uninspired, I find a recipe that surprises me, especially when my expectations for it are low to begin with. This was one of those recipes. It was unusual but it was good.

I made a few modifications but essentially I adapted this from One-Pot, Slow-Pot & Clay-Pot Cooking by Jenni Fleetwood:

Chicken with Tomatoes and Honey

A thick tomato and honey sauce coats chicken pieces in this subtly spiced dish.

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 chicken legs, (thighs and drumsticks attached)
• 1 onion, grated OR very finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed (I used three cloves)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• good pinch of ground ginger
• 3-3 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled (I didn't peel them), cored and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons clear honey
• 1/3 cup blanched almonds
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• chopped flat leaf parsley, to garnish

1. Place the oil and butter in a large, flameproof casserole. Add the chicken and cook over a medium heat for about 3 minutes until it is lightly browned.

2. Add the grated or chopped onion, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste, and heat gently until the tomatoes begin to bubble.

3.Lower the heat and then cover the casserole. Simmer very gently for about 1 hour, stirring and turning the chicken occasionally, or until it is completely cooked through.

4. Lift out the chicken pieces and transfer them to a plate. Increase the heat and cook the tomato sauce until it is reduced to a thick puree, (I used my immersion blender at this point to puree the onion and tomato for a smooth final sauce) stirring frequently. Stir in the honey, cook for 1 minute, (I tasted the sauce at this stage and felt the honey was too sweet and too overpowering so I added another large pinch of ginger, about a half cup of dry white cooking wine and more salt and pepper to taste, also added about a quarter cup of heavy cream to make a more creamy sauce) then return the chicken pieces to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes to heat through.

5.Transfer the chicken and sauce to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with the blanched almonds and sesame seeds. Serve hot, garnished with parsley.

Cook's Tip:To blanch whole almonds, place them in a strainer and lower it into boiling water. Cook the almonds for 2-3 minutes, then remove the strainer from the water. Pinch the softened almond skin between your thumb and finger to squeeze it off.

Written by Deb on January 9, 2004 10:15 PM