Mediterranean Braised Chicken
My friends, this is my delicious twist on the French classic Chicken Basquaise, with colorful bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and a little andouille sausage for extra flavor. We brown the chicken beautifully, then let it simmer gently until the dark meat is tender and the vegetables become a wonderful sauce. A few olives and a touch of harissa bring everything together.I like serving Braised Chicken over buttery barley cooked in chicken stock. It is simple family cooking, but delicious enough to serve when friends come over!
Recipe Video
Recipe Ingredients
Chicken & Browning
- 4 Bone-In Skinless Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks, about 3 Pounds (1.5kg)
- 1½ cups All-Purpose Flour for dredging
- 4 tbsp Cooking Oil suitable for high heat divided
- Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
Vegetables, Sausage & Braising Sauce
- 1 large Onion, about 10 Ounces (280g) medium diced
- 4 large Garlic Cloves, about ¾ Ounce (20g), chopped
- 1 cup Dry White Wine / or 1 Cup (240ml) Chicken Stock
- 1½ tbsp Fresh Thyme Leaves (5g) / or 1½ Teaspoons (1.5g) Dried Thyme
- 1 Jalapeño Pepper, about 1 Ounce (30g) finely chopped
- 8 oz Fully Cooked Andouille Sausage sliced
- 1 can 28 Ounces (800g), Whole Peeled Tomatoes with their Juices crushed by hand
- 4 Bell Peppers in assorted colors, about 1¼ Pounds (570g) after trimming cut into short strips
- 1 - 1½ cups Chicken Stock (240to 360ml) plus more as needed
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch diluted in 2 Tablespoons of Water
- ½ cup Pimento-Stuffed Green Olives drained
- ¼ cup Fresh Parsley chopped, divided
- 1 - 2 tbsp Harissa, or Hot Sauce (5 to 10ml) optional, to taste
Buttery Barley
- 1½ cups Quick-Cooking Barley
- 3 cups Chicken Stock or the amount specified on the barley package
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
Recipe Instructions
Mise-en-Place
- Prepare the vegetables and sausage as listed.
- Cut the bell peppers with the skin facing down, then halve the strips so they are easy to eat. Keep the pepper pieces substantial enough to hold their shape during the long simmer.
- Remove the jalapeño seeds if you prefer less heat.
- Pat the chicken dry.
- Season the flour with salt and pepper, lightly dredge the chicken, and shake off the excess.
- Keep the remaining ingredients ready before you begin, especially the wine for deglazing after the garlic.
- Mix the cornstarch with the cold water until smooth.
- Have a large, heavy pot with a lid and a separate skillet ready.
Cook the Onion
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the cooking oil in the large, heavy pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook until translucent and lightly golden.
- Give the onion time to cook by itself before adding the other ingredients. This is where we start building the flavor of the sauce.
Brown the Chicken
- While the onion cooks, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a separate skillet to approximately 365°F (185°C).
- Add the dredged chicken in batches and brown it well on both sides.
We are developing flavor here, not cooking the chicken all the way through. Avoid overcrowding the pan, and adjust the heat as necessary so the flour browns without burning.
Add the Garlic and Deglaze
- Add the chopped garlic to the onion and stir briefly. As soon as you smell the garlic become fragrant, immediately add the wine.
- Scrape the bottom of the pot and allow the wine to reduce until almost no liquid remains. This concentrates the flavor and softens the sharpness of the wine.
If using chicken stock instead of wine, deglaze the pot with the stock and proceed without reducing it nearly dry.
Build the Braising Sauce
- Stir in the thyme, jalapeño, and andouille sausage.
- Add the crushed tomatoes with their juices and the bell peppers.
- Pour in 1 cup of chicken stock. Add up to another ½ cup as needed to create enough sauce for braising.The chicken does not need to be completely submerged.
Braise the Chicken
- Arrange the browned chicken in the sauce.Bring everything to a gentle simmer, cover the pot, and cook over low heat for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the chicken is very tender.
- Check the pot about every 15 minutes and gently run a wooden spatula along the bottom to prevent sticking.
- Add a little additional chicken stock if the sauce becomes too thick during cooking.
- Check the thickest part of the dark meat, away from the bone, for an internal temperature of approximately 180°F (82°C).
We want a gentle “bloop, bloop,” my friends—not a furious boil!
Adjust and Thicken the Sauce
- Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed.
- If the sauce is too thin, bring it to a gentle boil and stirin a small amount of the prepared corn starch slurry.Let the sauce simmer and thicken before deciding whether toadd more.Use only enough slurry for the sauce to coat the chicken.
If the sauce becomes too thick, loosen it with a little chicken stock.
Finish the Sauce
- While the chicken finishes cooking, prepare thequick-cooking barley in chicken stock according to the package directions.The quick-cooking barley used for this recipe cooks in about10 minutes, but cooking times can vary by brand.
- Once the barley is tender, stir in the butter and reserved parsley.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
Serve
- Spoon the buttery barley onto warm plates.
- Add the chicken, then generously spoon the vegetables, sausage, and sauce over the top.
- Serve immediately.
- Enjoy!
Pro-Tips
Chef’s Notes
- I prefer dark meat for this dish because it stays moist during braising and becomes beautifully tender. You can use chicken breasts, but they cook faster; remove them when they reach 165°F (74°C) rather than giving them the full dark-meat cooking time.
- Choose the size of your vegetable cuts according to the cooking time. Small pieces suit a quick stir-fry; larger pieces are better here because the chicken simmers for about 45 minutes or longer.
- The wine can be replaced with chicken stock. Reducing wine does not guarantee that all alcohol is removed, so choose the stock option when avoiding alcohol entirely.
- Harissa adds both heat and fragrance. Its strength varies considerably, so taste before adding more. This is my adaptation of Mediterranean Chicken, with andouille sausage and olives—the recipe police can have the afternoon off!
- The transcript does not specify the chicken quantity or the amounts of oil, flour, sausage, olives, parsley, cornstarch, harissa, barley, or butter. These quantities and the six-serving yield are conservative editorial estimates. Follow the barley package for its liquid ratio and cooking time; regular pearl barley takes considerably longer than quick-cooking barley.
Serving Suggestions
Serve over the buttery barley so it catches all that delicious sauce. Rice also works beautifully and is the more traditional accompaniment to Mediterranean Chicken. A piece of crusty bread is useful for enjoying every last spoonful.Equipment - You can find the items below at our online store!
Nutrition
Calories: 786.88kcalCarbohydrates: 77.88gProtein: 47.43gFat: 29.54gSaturated Fat: 8.55gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5.76gMonounsaturated Fat: 12.68gTrans Fat: 0.28gCholesterol: 177.21mgSodium: 1123.56mgPotassium: 1413.32mgFiber: 13.26gSugar: 13.54gVitamin A: 3688.69IUVitamin C: 151.57mgCalcium: 124.67mgIron: 6.4mg
Private Notes
