Chicken Provençal
Family of 4
ingredients:
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper, freshly ground
- 4 to 8 chicken thighs, skinned and deboned
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp rosemary, dried and ground
- ½ tsp thyme, dried and ground
- 1 tbsp chicken base
- ½ grape tomatoes
- ½ cup red wine
- 14.5 oz can tomatoes, petite dice with juice
- ½ cup black olives, sliced in long quarters1
1 The original recipe provides a few options, but I opted for canned organic California black olives that I pickled in vinegar and additional salt for 3 days before using (they were really bland to start).
- Set a large crock pot to low heat.
- Season all pieces of chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sear each piece of chicken (without crowding the pan) on both sides until browned, then transfer to the crock pot.
- When all chicken has been seared, add another 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan (if necessary) and lower the heat. Add the onion, garlic, rosemary, and thyme and cook until fragrant and softened, stirring often to avoid burning the garlic.
- Add the chicken base and stir until uniformly distributed. Then add the grape tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes, allowing the tomato skins to blister or even pop.
- Add the red wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Allow the alcohol to boil away until the mixture has thickened.
- Add the diced tomatoes and their liquid along with the olives. Add salt and pepper to taste, then simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to the crock pot, covering the chicken pieces.
- Cook for 2 to 3 hours then remove the chicken pieces from the crock pot. Use an immersion blender to breakdown the remaining chunks of vegetable in the sauce without going so far as to purée it.
- Add the chicken pieces back to the sauce and lower the crockpot to stay warm until service.
Serve over wild or brown rice with fresh parsley to garnish.