Catalan chicken

Catalan chicken . It is a fact, chicken recipes can range from the simplest to the most elaborate, and cover all the intermediate possibilities because their meat combines with all kinds of ingredients and can be cooked in countless ways: grilled, cooked, stewed , baked … In addition, once the dish has cooled, the chicken can be used to dress a salad, prepare delicious croquettes or be chopped and accompanied by a sauce as a snack.

Today we are going to prepare a Catalan chicken , a traditional recipe from that community that fantastically combines the sweet flavors of prunes and cinnamon, incorporating the toasted and crunchy touch of pine nuts. A Catalan recipe that, like cuttlefish meatballs or veal fricando , are delicious stews that are much easier than they seem. Dishes that will bring the aromas of grandmother’s casseroles to your table.

Like most traditional dishes, each house is cooked according to the touch of our mothers and grandmothers. Most of these recipes have a good base with a point of originality that makes it different from that of our neighbor. We prepare this recipe for Catalan chicken a lot at home because it is a very tasty dish with just four ingredients, and the fruit point is a very typical combination of Catalan cuisine that goes great.

The chicken is stewed slowly in the sauce, its meat absorbs all those flavors and it gains a lot of personality. It is a perfect recipe to go hand in hand with a mashed potato or white rice that can solve a dinner with very little effort. I hope you like it and cheer up with him at home. Let’s do it.

Preparation of Catalan chicken

1. We ask our butcher to cut the chicken into rather generous pieces or we do it ourselves, to our liking.
2. Pour a jet of extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan large enough to fit all the pieces of chicken, season with salt and pepper and brown them in the hot oil over medium heat.
3. Meanwhile, we submerge the plums in warm water for 15 minutes to hydrate them, even if they seem juicy without the need to do so, this step will help them add more flavor to the dish.
4. Chop the onion into small pieces (keep in mind that it will be the base of the sauce, so it is not convenient to leave them too large). We separate a couple of cloves from the garlic head (we are not going to peel them).
5. When the chicken is golden brown, add the onion, the garlic cloves and the cinnamon stick. Stir to mix the ingredients well and let them all sauté together for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
6. Then we add a generous jet of brandy, cognag or Pedro Ximénez (about 100 ml) and let the alcohol reduce by stirring everything for one or two minutes. Then we cover the chicken with the broth. We lower the heat and let it reduce for 25 minutes, with the saucepan covered.
7. Meanwhile we toast the pine nuts in a frying pan. Pour a jet of oil and sauté until golden brown over medium-high heat. To drain the excess oil, we remove them and place them on a piece of kitchen paper. We reserve.
8. When the casserole takes 25 minutes over low heat with all the ingredients, add the pine nuts and the drained plums. Stir well, rectify salt if necessary and let it continue cooking for 10 minutes without increasing the power of the fire.
9. To serve, remove the chicken pieces to a source and then pour the sauce over it with a slotted spoon or a ladle.

As you can see, it is a very simple dish that will also surprise your diners, since the chicken meat ends up acquiring the sweet flavor of the sauce and the pine nuts give it that crispy and toasted touch. Yummy!

You can see all the photos of the step by step of this Catalan chicken recipes  in this album, do not miss any detail and they will be perfect.