Chicken With Almonds And Green Olives Recipes

CHICKEN TAGINE WITH ALMONDS, APRICOTS, AND OLIVES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring apricots and orange juice to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; let cool.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a braiser pan or deep straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat; add oil and swirl to coat bottom. Cook half of chicken, flipping once, until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Cook remaining chicken; transfer to plate.
• Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat. Reduce heat to medium; add onion, garlic, and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in ginger and cinnamon and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Stir in broth and saffron, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Return chicken and accumulated juices to pan. Drain apricots; add to pan with almonds and olives. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of chicken breast (without touching bone) reads 165 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro. Serve with couscous and harissa.

JAMES BEARD'S FARMER'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• Pat chicken pieces dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• In a wide skillet with a lid, heat oil over medium. Working in batches if necessary to avoid crowding the pan, brown the chicken, rotating as needed, until the skin is golden and releases easily from the pan, at least 5 minutes per side. Adjust the heat to avoid scorching. As the pieces are browned, transfer them to a plate.
• Once all the chicken is browned, add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet. Sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oregano and paprika.
• Add the wine and simmer, stirring up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the pan is almost dry, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in stock, olives and currants, and bring to a simmer. Carefully return the chicken pieces to the pan. Cover and let simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, stir and let simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is tender and the liquid reduces slightly, about 15 minutes. (The sauce will be quite loose.) Taste the sauce for salt and pepper. (Recipe can be made up to this point and refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
• When ready to serve, heat through and stir in lemon zest and juice. Divide among shallow bowls and sprinkle with parsley and almonds (if using). Serve with rice, orzo or toast.

PAN SEARED CHICKEN WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• For the chicken: Using a meat mallet, evenly pound the chicken breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 1/4-inch thickness. Put the chicken into a heavy resealable bag or 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add the oil, parsley, shallots and garlic; sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and mix in the bag or toss in the baking dish until the chicken is coated in the marinade. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Using tongs, remove the chicken from the marinade, allowing the oil to drain. (It's ok if some of the garlic and shallots still cling to the chicken.) Discard the marinade.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large (12- to 14-inch) skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the chicken breasts, 2 at a time, being sure to space them out in the skillet. (Avoid over-crowding, or you won't get a good sear.) Sear until light golden on the first side, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and sear on the other side until the chicken is cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Cook the remaining 2 chicken breasts, adding another tablespoon of oil if needed. Reserve the skillet for the sauce.
• For the pan sauce: In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil if using and the garlic; season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Set aside.
• Pour out all but 2 tablespoons oil from the skillet. If the skillet is dry and more oil is needed, add about 2 tablespoons. Over medium heat, add the olives and shallots and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the vinegar and cook, scraping up any browned bits in the skillet. Whisk in the chicken broth and any pan juices the chicken released on the platter and bring to a simmer. Cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Stir in the mustard, add the seasoned tomatoes and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute; season with salt and pepper if needed.
• Spoon the sauce over the chicken on the platter, garnish with chopped herbs if using and serve immediately with the Winter Greens Salad on the side if desired.
• Put the arugula, frisee and radicchio into a salad bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle the vinegar over the greens and toss until coated; drizzle the oil over the top and toss again. Add the cheese, season with salt and pepper and toss until well combined. Serve immediately.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS AND ALMONDS

Steps:

• Coat a large, wide, deep pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Pat the chicken skin dry with paper towels and season generously with salt. Add chicken skin side down to the pan. You should hear a big sizzle as the thighs hit the pan. Do not try to move the chicken, the skin will stick itself to the bottom of the pan and will unstick itself when it is ready. If the pan is smoking excessively turn the burner down and continue to cook. When the skin is brown and crispy, turn the chicken over and brown it on the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve.
• Lower the heat if you have not already done so and ditch most of the excess fat. Add the pancetta and brown. When the pancetta has started to get brown and crispy add the onions. Season with salt and crushed red pepper and sweat over medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and saute for 3 to 4 minutes or until they release their juices. Add the wine and reduce by half. Return the chicken to the pan. Add chicken stock to almost cover the chicken. Add the thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the chicken for 30 to 35 minutes. Add more chicken stock, if needed.
• While the chicken is cooking puree the almonds in the food processor. Drizzle in a little olive oil while the machine is running to make this a loose paste. Season with salt and reserve.
• Once the chicken has cooked for 30 to 35 minutes, remove it from the pan and reserve. Taste the sauce for seasoning and stir in the almond puree. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer to thicken the sauce, if needed. The almond puree will help to thicken the sauce and to make it very rich.
• Serve the chicken over Sauteed Haricots Verts or your favorite green vegetable. Spoon the mushroom almond sauce over and garnish with chopped chives.
• Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil. Set up a bowl of well salted ice water for shocking.
• Add the beans to the boiling water and cook until the beans are tender but still toothsome about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the boiling water and place immediately into the salted ice water. Once the beans are cool, remove them from the water and set aside until ready to use.
• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and bring to a medium-high heat. When the garlic has become golden and very aromatic, remove it and discard. It has fulfilled its garlic destiny. Add the beans to the pan and saute until they are hot and coated with oil. Season with salt and serve right away.
• Yield: 4 servings
• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 10 minutes

OLIVE-STUFFED CHICKEN WITH ALMONDS

Steps:

• Pat chicken breasts dry, then cut a 2-inch-long horizontal slit in thickest part of each. Stuff each chicken breast with 1 1/2 teaspoons olives, then season with salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then toast almonds, stirring often, until a few shades darker, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a cutting board to cool (do not clean skillet).
• Increase heat to moderately high, then add chicken breasts, skin sides down, to butter remaining in skillet and sprinkle with remaining olives. Sauté chicken breasts until skins are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn chicken breasts over and cook, covered, over moderate heat until just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes more, then transfer with tongs to plates.
• While chicken is cooking, chop almonds.
• Add remaining tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoons water to skillet and heat, stirring, until butter is melted. Stir in almonds, parsley, and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken.

CHICKEN WITH GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Put oil in deep skillet or casserole. Turn heat to medium-high and wait a minute, until oil is hot. Add chicken, skin-side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning pieces as necessary and sprinkling with salt and pepper as they cook; 10 to 15 minutes total. Turn heat to medium, remove chicken and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat.
• Add onion, ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon or more of pepper and some salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until onion softens. Add stock and raise heat to medium-high; return chicken to pan, skin-side up. Cook at a lively simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add olives and continue to cook until chicken is done, another 10 to 15 minutes or so. Add lemon juice, then taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish and serve.