Whole Chicken Braised With Pears Recipes

BRAISE-ROASTED CHICKEN WITH LEMON AND CARROTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Cut backbone from chicken using kitchen shears and save backbone for another use. Flip chicken, breast-side up, and forcefully press chicken down to flatten; season generously with salt.
• Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe cast iron skillet over medium-high heat; pan-fry chicken, skin-side down, until golden, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate, skin-side up.
• Cook and stir onion in oil in the same skillet until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add beer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Continue cooking until most of the beer is reduced, 2 to 4 minutes more. Stir chicken broth, carrots, lemon, rosemary, and thyme into beer mixture. Arrange chicken, skin-side up, over vegetables.
• Roast in the preheated oven until chicken is golden brown and crispy, about 50 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Transfer chicken and vegetables to a large platter and let rest, uncovered.
• Bring remaining broth and juices in the skillet to a boil and cook until sauce is thickened, about 10 minutes. Season sauce with salt.
• Slice chicken and serve with sauce.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN & PEARS

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook until a thermometer reads 165°, 8-10 minutes. Remove., Meanwhile, stir together next 5 ingredients until blended. Pour into skillet; add pears and dried cherries. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until pears are tender, about 5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet; simmer, uncovered, until heated through, 3-5 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with additional minced rosemary.

CHICKEN WITH CARAMELIZED PEARS

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, brown chicken in butter; remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute onion until tender. Add pears and brown sugar; cook 3 minutes longer. Stir in vinaigrette and thyme., Return chicken to skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-6 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions. Serve with chicken.

CITRUSY ROAST CHICKEN WITH PEARS AND FIGS

Steps:

• Peel 2 of the garlic cloves, and finely grate or mash to a paste. Grate 1 teaspoon zest from the orange (reserve zested orange and remaining garlic clove for serving).
• In a small bowl, combine garlic and zest with 1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary, salt and pepper.
• Place chicken on a 13-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet, and rub rosemary mixture all over chicken including underneath the skin and inside the cavity. Chill uncovered in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Stuff chicken with rosemary sprigs. Drizzle chicken lightly with oil, and roast for 30 minutes.
• Remove baking sheet from oven and carefully arrange pears and figs, cut-side down, on the hot pan. Continue to roast until chicken is cooked through, another 15 to 25 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a cutting board to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Roast pears and figs another 5 to 10 minutes, if necessary, until they are caramelized and tender.
• Cut the white pith off the orange, then cut out orange segments into bite-size pieces. Finely grate or mash the remaining garlic clove.
• To serve, transfer figs, pears and chicken to a platter. In the pan with chicken juices, toss orange segments, remaining garlic clove, and a drizzle of sherry vinegar; taste and season with flaky sea salt, if needed. Spoon oranges and pan juices over chicken and fruit on platter, and top with chopped parsley and more flaky sea salt.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH APPLES AND PEARS

Steps:

• Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry. Season with salt & pepper.
• Peel & core the apples and pears. Slice them into sixths or eights.
• Chop some fresh marjoram for garnish.
• Preheat your oven to 350° F.
• In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil and butter. When hot but not smoking, brown the chicken pieces a few at a time being sure not to crowd the pan with too many pieces or they will steam. Depending on the size of the pan, you may have to do this in batches.
• When all sides are browned, remove the chicken from the pan and transfer it to a plate to reserve. Pour out most of the butter/oil fat from the pan, but leave about 1 tablespoon for browning the apples and pears.
• Over medium-high heat, cook the pears and apples for about 4 minutes. Transfer the pears and apples to another plate to reserve.
• Add the cider to the pan to deglaze. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape any bits of browned chicken from the pan. This stuff is called fond or sucs.
• Add the mustard and using a spoon or whisk, stir the mustard into the cider.
• Return the chicken pieces along with any juices that may have leaked out back to the pan.
• Add the marjoram sprigs, cover and place the pan into the oven on the middle rack.
• I didn't have a sauté pan big enough for all the chicken pieces so for this step, I transferred everything to my Le Creuset Dutch Oven, one of my favorite pieces of cookware.
• After 10 minutes in the oven, I added the apple and pear slices to the pot and continued braising for another 30 to 40 minutes. The meat was so tender it was about to fall off the bone.
• I carefully removed the chicken and fruit to a plate with a slotted spoon, removed and threw out the marjoram sprigs and started the hardest part to this recipe - defatting. There's just no easy way to get rid of the fat that comes off the chicken. I've tried those defatting gadgets, paper towels but nothing really works so well that it removes the fat and isn't messy.
• If you have the time and don't have to serve this up as soon as it's finished, I highly recommend you transfer the liquid to a small bowl or plastic container let it cool and then place in the refrigerator over night.The next day you'll have a layer of fat on top that you can easily remove and be left with nothing but incredibly flavored braising liquid. When I made this, I didn't have the luxury of time so I defatted by hand and made the best of it.
• I transferred the liquid to a saucepan, brought it to a boil and then reduced the heat to medium, added the half and half and continued reducing until the sauce was my desired consistency.I could have made a roux (fat and flour) to thicken the sauce, but I think you get much better flavor by reduction.
• To serve, plate the chicken, top with a little sauce and sprinkle a little of the chopped marjoram on top. This is one delicious meal and even better if you let it sit for a day before serving.

BALSAMIC CHICKEN AND PEARS

Steps:

• In nonstick 12 inch skillet, heat 1 tsp oil over medium -high heat till very hot. Add chicken and cook till golden brown and no pink remains (4-5 min) each side. Transfer to plate; keep warm. In same skillet, heat remaining 1 tsp oil. Add pears and cook till tender and golden brown. In cup, blend broth, vinegar, cornstarch, and sugar. Stir broth mixture and dried cherries into skillet with pears. Heat to boiling, stirring and boil 1 minute. Return chicken to pan; heat through.

CHICKEN WITH PEAR SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Rub chicken breasts with salt and white pepper. Place chicken breasts in the hot skillet, and cook for about 10 minutes on each side, until the juices run clear.
• Meanwhile, place bacon in a saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook until crisp. Remove bacon, and drain grease, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan. Stir in some of the chicken broth, and scrape any bacon bits stuck to the pan. Pour in the rest of the broth, and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Add pears, and boil for 5 more minutes.
• In a small cup, mix together the cornstarch and water. Pour the mixture into the saucepan along with the green onions. Allow the sauce to boil until thick and bubbly, about 2 minutes. Crumble bacon into the pan. Serve sauce over chicken.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH ARTICHOKES AND PEAS

Steps:

• Put flour in a shallow bowl. Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then dredge, 1 piece at a time, in flour, shaking off excess. Transfer to a sheet of wax paper as coated.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté chicken, skinned sides down first, turning over once, until deep golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate (chicken will not be fully cooked).
• Add onion with remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden brown around edges, about 6 minutes. Add wine and boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits, 1 minute. Stir in broth, artichokes, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Return chicken to skillet along with any juices from plate and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover skillet and reduce heat, then simmer until chicken is tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in peas and simmer, covered, 5 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a shallow serving dish. Stir parsley and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper into artichoke mixture, then spoon over chicken.

WHOLE ROASTED CHICKEN WITH PEAR, SHALLOTS, AND THYME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place chicken in a roasting pan and season all over with salt and pepper. Gently loosen skin and rub chicken breasts with thyme leaves, salt, and pepper. Stuff cavity with 5 thyme sprigs, garlic, and lemon. Using kitchen twine, securely tie legs together; tuck wing tips underneath.
• Roast chicken for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, baste with pan juices; add shallots, pears, and remaining thyme sprigs to pan. Return to oven and continue to roast, until thermometer inserted in the thick part of the thigh (avoiding the bone) reaches 165 degrees, 45 minutes to 1 hour, basting and tossing pears and shallots once. Transfer to a serving platter and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

BRAISED WHOLE CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. In a large ovensafe saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil on medium-high. Add chicken and brown, breast side down, 5-10 minutes. Turn over and brown second side. Transfer chicken to a platter. Add celery and onion and sauté 5 minutes. Add carrots and sauté another 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
• Place chicken, breast side down, overtop vegetables . Combine broth, water and vinegar and pour over chicken. Add potatoes to the pot, cover and braise 45 minutes. Turn chicken, breasts side up, cook another 10-15 minutes with lid off to brown.
• Remove chicken and vegetables from pan and keep warm. Skim fat from cooking liquid and discard. Carve chicken and place slices into shallow bowls, adding vegetables and broth. Garnish with fresh chives and serve.

CHICKEN WITH SAUTEED PEARS AND ROSEMARY SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add apple juice, red wine, vinegar, rosemary, thyme and crushed red pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Strain mixture into small saucepan; discard solids. Add cream and simmer until reduced to sauce consistency, about 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile heat 2 teaspoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add pear slices; sauté until tender and golden brown, about 8 minutes. (Sauce and pears can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate. Rewarm pears over medium-low heat before serving.)
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to skillet and sauté until cooked through and golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Add Marsala and bring to boil. Stir in reserved sauce, turning chicken once to coat. Cook until heated through, about 2 minutes longer.
• Divide chicken among 4 plates. Spoons some sauce around chicken on each plate. Garnish with pear slices.

GARLIC-BRAISED CHICKEN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large Dutch oven over medium-high, add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom. Season the chicken with salt on both sides, then add to the pot skin side down. Cook until the skin turns golden and crispy, 8 to 10 minutes. If the skin browns too quickly, lower the heat. Flip, and sear the other side briefly, about 1 minute. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
• Add the garlic to the schmaltzy oil over medium-high, and stir until fragrant and very lightly golden at the edges, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the white pepper, then immediately add the wine and 1 cup water. Scrape up any stuck-on bits from the bottom of the pot while bringing the liquid to a simmer. Nestle the chicken in the pot skin side up, cover and cook in the oven until the chicken and garlic are meltingly tender, and the wine has reduced, about 1 hour. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed. Serve with rice.

ROASTED CHICKEN AND PEARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a large rimmed baking sheet (or two small ones), toss parsnip, turnip, and onions with vinegar, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1/2 teaspoon thyme; season with salt and pepper.
• In a small bowl, combine parsley and remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme; season with salt and pepper. Carefully slide fingers under chicken skin to loosen; spread parsley mixture under and on top of skin. Push vegetables to edges of baking sheet; place chicken pieces in center, and roast 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine honey and remaining tablespoon oil. Remove baking sheet from oven; add pears, and toss with vegetables to combine. Brush top of chicken pieces with honey mixture; roast 30 minutes more or until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh (avoiding bone) registers 175 degrees. Serve immediately.