Spanish Chicken with Olives and Wine

This dish was modified from an original recipe that was acquired by Katherine Ottesen, my mother while on vacation in Spain. She barged into the kitchen and refused to leave unless they shared the recipe. It is bursting with solid Mediterranean flavors. It is a whole meal, easy to pre- pare and cooks in one hour. All that is needed is good bread to make the meal complete although we usually serve it over steamed white or brown jasmine rice.

1 Chicken, cut up or legs, thighs, and wings (4 pounds)

1 large can of pitted black Californian olives (may also want to consider half and half with green olives as a variation.)

4 Vine ripened large tomatoes, quartered in wedges

2 Green bell peppers, sectioned into 1/2 slices, seeded and stemmed.

  (or 1 green bell pepper and 1 yellow bell pepper, etc.)

1 Cup of dry white wine

2 Cloves of crushed garlic

1 tsp. Red pepper

Aji Amarillo ground pepper (optional)

1 Large yellow onion, peeled, coarsely sliced

2 tablespoons best cold pressed olive oil (i.e. best virgin olive oil rich in flavor) 1 tablespoon sweet butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut up chicken into pieces, sauté at 350 (medium) in butter and oil in a large skillet (equipped with a lid) until golden brown. Add pepper and a little salt. Add wine, garlic, then cover the chicken with all the other ingredients. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook one hour. Toward the end of the hour look at the liquid level. Partially crack the lid to allow the sauces to thicken somewhat – not absolutely necessary but a thicker sauce will help concen- trate the flavors. When done, taste the sauce and correct the salt as required. (You may choose to remove the vegetables and chicken from the pan so you may turn up the heat to thicken the sauce by driving away excess moisture; in this case, platter the chicken and vegetables and pour over the thickened sauce.) Serve either with fresh Italian Bread or steamed rice or both.

Oven Works Well Too

If you are doubling the recipe for more people, or you want to make sure that things don’t burn, the dish may be prepared in a Dutch-oven equipped with a lid or even a metal turkey roasting pan where the cover is fashioned from two layers of heavy tin foil. (Two layers of foil holds its shape well and will yield an excellent seal). Pre-heat the oven to 375 F. Start the chicken as above with the Dutch oven or roasting span spanning two burners. At the point where the recipe calls to: “Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook one hour.” Move the cov- ered Dutch oven or tin foil sealed roasting pan to the oven. After 45 minutes, crack the lid a bit or poke holes in the tin foil with a long handle fork – careful of the steam. When done, taste the sauce and correct the salt as required as before.

If simmering (i.e. steaming) rice, 375 F is also an ideal temperature for it to finish cooking in an oven-proof pot or casserole dish in the same oven as the chicken. (See recipe for rice.)