Braised Chicken With Mushrooms And Almonds Recipes

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS, ALMONDS AND SAUTEED HARICOTS VERTS

Steps:

• Cover the dried porcinis with 2 cups hot water and allow to sit for 30 minutes to reconstitute. Remove from the liquid with a slotted spoon before using.
• Coat a large, wide, deep pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Pat the chicken skin dry with paper towels and season generously with salt. Add the chicken, skin side down, to the pan¿you should hear a big sizzle as the thighs hit the pan. Do not try to move the chicken; the skin will stick itself to the bottom of the pan and will unstick itself when it is ready. If the pan is smoking excessively, turn the burner down and continue cooking. When the skin is brown and crispy, turn the chicken over and brown it on the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve.
• Lower the heat if you have not already done so and ditch most of the excess fat from the pan. Add the pancetta, and brown. When the pancetta has started to get brown and crispy, add the onions. Sprinkle with salt and crushed red pepper, and sweat over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the assorted mushrooms, including the porcinis, season with salt and saute until they release their juices, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the white wine and reduce by half. Return the chicken to the pan. Add the chicken stock to almost cover the chicken. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the chicken for 30 to 35 minutes, adding more chicken stock if needed.
• While the chicken is cooking, puree the almonds in a food processor. With the motor running, drizzle in a little olive oil to make a loose paste. Season with salt and reserve.
• Once the chicken has cooked for 30 to 35 minutes, remove it from the pan and reserve. Taste the sauce for seasoning and stir in the almond puree. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer to thicken the sauce if needed; the almond puree will help to thicken the sauce and will make it very rich.
• Serve the chicken over sauteed haricots verts. Spoon the mushroom-almond sauce over the top and garnish with chopped chives.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Set up a bowl of well-salted ice water for shocking.
• Add the haricots verts to the boiling water and cook until tender but still toothsome, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and immediately plunge into the salted ice water. Once the beans are cool, remove them from the water and set aside until ready to use.
• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and bring to a medium-high heat. When the garlic has become golden and very aromatic, remove and discard it¿it has fulfilled its garlic destiny. Add the beans to the pan and saute until hot and coated with oil. Season with salt and serve right away.

MUSHROOM ALMOND CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a skillet, saute mushrooms and garlic in butter; set aside. Combine lemon and cayenne peppers; sprinkle over the chicken and let stand for 10 minutes. In a shallow bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk and salt. In another bowl, mix the bread crumbs, almonds, basil and oregano. Dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, then in crumb mixture, coating well. Place in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan; sprinkle with mushroom mixture. Cover and bake at 350° for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 minutes longer. If desired, sprinkle with cheese and let stand for 5 minutes.

WINE-BRAISED CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Season all over with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and the black pepper. Finely grate, pass through a press or mince 2 garlic cloves. Set aside half the grated garlic for finishing the dish. Rub the rest all over the chicken pieces. Set aside the chicken while preparing the other ingredients.
• In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, combine 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter. When the butter melts, add chicken in batches and cook until browned on both sides, 4 to 6 minutes per side. If the pan dries out, add a little more oil as needed. Transfer browned chicken to a plate.
• Add remaining tablespoon each oil and butter to the pan. Once the butter melts, add mushrooms and cook undisturbed until well browned on one side, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir and cook for 1 minute longer.
• Thinly slice 2 garlic cloves. Reduce heat to medium, and stir in sliced garlic, leeks and a large pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are tender and golden brown, 7 minutes. Add rosemary and wine to the pot and let simmer, scraping up the browned bits, until liquid reduces by half, about 1 minute.
• Nestle chicken, skin side up, into the pan and pour in any accumulated juices from the plate. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until chicken is cooked through, 25 to 35 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a serving platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Pluck the rosemary sprigs from the pot. If the sauce looks thin, turn the heat to medium-high and let simmer until it thickens slightly, 2 to 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining grated garlic, the crème fraîche, chives and lemon zest. Taste sauce and add more salt if needed. Spoon sauce over the chicken and top with parsley, more lemon zest and a dollop of crème fraîche, if you like, and serve.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH PEPPERS AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown, turning occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and break them up lightly with a fork. Add the lemon juice and salt and simmer for 2 minutes.
• In a bowl, combine the garlic, onions, and bell peppers. Place half of the mixture in the bottom of the crockpot. Cover with half the chicken and sauce, then layer on the remaining bell pepper mixture and top with the remaining chicken and sauce.
• Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 4 hours. Garnish with the basil and serve hot.
• These leftovers make the best Italian-style hero sandwiches ever!

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high. Add chicken, and cook until light golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; set aside.
• Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic, and season with salt. Cover; and cook over medium heat until mushrooms release their juices, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove lid. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add wine, and cook, stirring, until evaporated, about 1 minute. Add broth and parsley, cook over medium-high heat until mushrooms are tender and liquid is reduced, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Return chicken to skillet. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve chicken topped with mushrooms, and drizzled with cooking liquid. Garnish with chopped parsley.

ANNE'S BRAISED CHICKEN THIGHS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large, deep pan over medium high heat.
• Pat chicken skin dry, lightly season with salt and pepper, and add to pan - skin side down.
• When the skin in brown, turn the chicken over and brown the other side. About 4 minutes per side. Remove from pan.
• Drain excess oil, lower heat to medium, add pancetta and brown.
• Add onions, lightly season with salt, crushed red pepper, and cook 8 minutes.
• Add garlic and cook for a minute, then add mushrooms, lightly season with salt, and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add the wine and cook until reduced by half.
• Return the chicken to the pan, and add enough chicken stock to almost cover the chicken, and the bay leaves and thyme. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer and cook about 30-35 minutes. (add more chicken stock or water, if needed.).
• While the chickenis cooking, puree the almonds in a food processor. Drizzle in a little oil while machine is running to make a loose paste.
• Once the chicken has cooked, remove from pan. Stir in the almond puree, bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. I added a spoonfulf of flour (mixed with a little water to make a slurry) to thicken the sauce, and cooked another 5 - 10 minutes.
• Spoon sauce over the chicken.