I go back and read some of the things I’ve posted on this blog and wonder what would possess me to blabber on like I do about things that aren’t even food related.  It’s funny and a bit embarrassing.   I think I will continue to blog as anonymously as I can adding that reason to the list of others pertaining to why I am too shy to blog under my real name and rarely post photos of myself.  I’m very grateful to my friends and family who follow and to those who call me “Edible”. lol   Gonna keep this post concise and to the point.

I needed to figure out what to do with a whole chicken one night and this is what I came up with.  Tomatoes and lots of fresh basil from the garden put an end to my quandary pretty quickly.  It’s fun to stand in my backyard and look around to see what I want to use to make dinner.  Oops!  Got off the subject again and rattled on about gardening, didn’t I?  😉

This dish would have been lighter if I had used skinless chicken breasts which is what I usually do, but whole chickens were a dime a dozen this summer so I ended up with a couple of them in the freezer at a time.   The calories, fat, and carbs. can be reduced by skipping the dredging step and reducing the amount of oil used to saute if skinless chicken breasts are used.  If the flour is eliminated from the recipe, it would also be a good idea to reduce the amount of liquids.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour

1 whole chicken, portioned

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

1/2 c. dry white wine

1 c. chicken broth

3 c. cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

1/2 c. red bell pepper, sliced

1/4 c. basil, chiffonade

Extra virgin olive oil

1 c. water

1/2 tsp. salt

2 T fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced

Salt & Pepper

Method:

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces.  Heat oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven.  Dredge the chicken pieces in flour.

Add garlic to the pan and then chicken pieces.  Brown chicken on all sides, reducing heat as necessary to avoid scorching, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove from the pan.

Deglaze the pan with wine, broth, and water, scraping the bottom of the to loosen the cooked-on bits of chicken and garlic.

Add the chicken back.  Toss in the tomatoes, peppers, basil, and parsley.

Bring the liquid to a low simmer.  Cover and braise for 1 hour.  Uncover to allow the liquid to reduce and cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Season to taste and allow the liquid to reduce as much as you like before serving.