Poulet Basquaise
Recipe by the late Anthony Bourdain
Serve with rice pilaf. A great recipe can be found on this site, just search for rice.
To make his exceptional braised chicken from the Basque region of France, Anthony Bourdain relies on piment d'Espelètte, white wine, and plenty of onions and peppers.
Piment d'Espelètte is a dried ground chile that comes from the village of Espelètte in the Basque region of France. It's fruity with just a hint of heat and smoke. If you don't have any available, you can swap in paprika or cayenne (if you like more heat). But use Piment d'Espelètte if you can.
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds, cut into 8 pieces or the cuts of chicken you prefer.
Salt
Pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper or piment d’Espelètte
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
16 ounces canned Italian plum tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 cube chicken bouillon or 1/2 cup light chicken stock or broth (See Note)
3 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped
Preparation
Season the chicken all over with salt, pepper, and piment d'Espelètte.
Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, about 2 minutes. When the oil is hot, add the butter. When the butter has melted and the foam has subsided, add the chicken, skin side down, and brown on that side only, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside on the plate.
Add the peppers and onion to the pot and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the wine, scraping, scraping — as always — to get the good stuff up. Cook until the wine is reduced by half, then add the water and the bouillon cube or broth.
Return the chicken to the pot, making sure to add all the juices on the plate. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a platter. Crank up the heat to high and boil the sauce until it has thickened and reduced, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with rice pilaf.
Keywords: Main Chicken Poultry
