Sunday, December 9, 2007

Braised Chicken in Rum



After my final exams end of November, I felt so burnt and tired that I took a small break from almost everything, including food blogging. This past month has been the most hectic of the year so far, having a new colleague on board to train, being audited for really exciting (SOX- Sarbanes Oxley) processes, backing up another colleague who was away on holidays, in Goa(eating fantastic indian food, of course. Sigh). Despite the busy schedule, there were two things that pre-occupied my mind, good food and s--.
..Sox, what did you think?

To unwind and celebrate the little free time I had back, I did better than having a drink...I had food and liquor all in one dish.

I had the plate of this sublime chicken in liquor dish all set up and nicely decorated but the picture turned out so dark and lifeless. When I depend on natural lighting to take good food shots, I have to rush and cook everything I need before the sun goes down, which means 3:30pm in Montreal these days. Didn't happen today, so I took a picture of the chicken still simmering in the rum and wine sauce, with the onions and mushrooms that you can still see the sauce bubbling in the background. The lighting isn't the best but I still think the shot did the whole chicken ensemble justice. The sauce was incredibly flavourful and the chicken just fell apart by a simple prick of a fork.

Recipe "au pif":
6 chicken drumsticks (legs/thigh)
1/2 cup thick smoked bacon, cubed
2 cups mushrooms
10 baby white onions
1 large garlic clove
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup rum
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
salt
pepper
olive oil

*I usually like removing the skin and cartilage off of the end of the drumstick so that the chicken cooks faster.

Heat about a tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan and add in the chicken. Cook about 5 minutes by turning them over until the chicken is brown all around. Remove and put aside.

Heat another tbsp of olive oil and add in the mushrooms, onions and the garlic clove. Sauté for 2 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and put aside.

Heat a small pan and add in the bacon. Stir and sauté for about 2 minutes until brown and crisp. Turn off heat, add in the mushroom, onions and garlic to the bacon and mix.

In a large deep pan, add in half of the mushroom-bacon mix in one layer. Gently lay the chicken over that first layer and add in the remaining half of the mushroom-bacon mix on top. Add in the wine, rum, chicken stock, bay leaves and thyme. The chicken should be slightly covered by the broth. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat, for about 30-35 minutes.

Whether you have a big family or guests over, you can leave the pot in the oven (300F ) to keep piping hot until ready to serve.

Serve with creamy mashed potatoes, plain rice or pasta.

Serves 4-6 people.

2 comments:

J. said...

This turned out very nice. Very tasty. Just added a little cornstarch to the liquid to thicken but will definitely use again. Thanks for posting!

Anonymous said...

Thanks J. I love receiving feedback on my recipes. As for the cornstarch, any personal touch that will make the dish savoury to your taste, is great! I personally like using onion as a thickener.