31 January 2007
what’s cooking wednesday: calabrian style pan-fried chicken
A whole recipe without pasta! I told you it could happen. It’s nothing complicated, but it’s a winter staple for us around here. This week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday is Calabrian style pan-fried chicken.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, now’s a good time. Southern Italian cooking is famous for its simplicity. It’s all about taking fresh, quality ingredients that you always have on hand and combining them together so that you create something delicious but in which you can still identify the parts the made the whole.
The general eating way here, often referred to as the Mediterranean Diet, includes lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, moderate amounts of fish and poultry, little red meat, and a good amount of red wine, and is considered fairly healthy although not perfect. The biggest plus, though, is the heavy use of olive oil, which is high in monounsaturated fat, the type that doesn’t spike cholesterol. And this, as you know, is a very good thing.
So, without further ado, here’s this week’s recipe:
Chicken with Rosemary
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red onion, roughly sliced
4 cloves garlic
½ chicken cut into pieces
2 tablespoons rosemary (a few sprigs)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Put olive oil into pan large enough to hold chicken.
On medium heat, sauté onions until translucent. Then add garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add the chicken to the pan, seasoning all sides with rosemary, salt and pepper and coating with the olive oil. Turn until all sides are lightly browned.
Then lower the heat slightly and let it cook until the chicken is done, which should be about 45 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken.
Be sure to turn it every so often to keep it moist and evenly cooked.
Note that if you don’t want pan-fried, you can use the same ingredients to bake the chicken in the oven, just use less olive oil.
Buon appetito!
————–
Technorati Tags: chicken, chicken with rosemary, chicken recipes, rosemary, pan-fried chicken, recipes, cooking, what’s cooking wednesday
Related posts:
- what’s cooking wednesday: fried zucchini slices On the heels of our wonderful discussion about obesity and...
- what’s cooking wednesday: linguine agli scampi Last week I teased your tastebuds by suggesting that maybe...
- what’s cooking wednesday: rigatoni with tuna Welcome to What's Cooking Wednesday! It's pasta again, folks,...
- what’s cooking wednesday: pan-roasted quail ***Don't forget to stop by Cherrye's My Bella Vita for...
- what’s cooking wednesday: turkey with sauteed peppers & onions Before we get to this week's What's Cooking Wednesday, a...
6 beans of wisdom »
sognatrice on 31 Jan 2007 at 10:57 am #
You know, last night, actually I did eat just the chicken, but that was personal choice
The usual thing we do here is lots of crusty bread to soak up the good stuff and a big salad…basically the typical Italian meal without the primo. I’ve also been known to do some oven-roasted potatoes (put some rosemary in there too!) and spinach, but you could make this with just about any vegetable you like.
laxlaw on 31 Jan 2007 at 3:24 pm #
This sounds delish and something the kiddies will eat.
One question … can I use boneless chicken breasts? I’m not very adventurous and that’s usually what I buy.
www.singlecitychick.blogspot.com on 31 Jan 2007 at 4:24 pm #
I was going to ask the same question about the boneless/skinless chicken breasts, but “laxlaw” beat me to it.
I just don’t have the stomach to handle meat with bones in it. I know, I know, pathetic, right? Sigh. 
I still think this is a flashback to having to watch Nonna clean the pheasants. I figure I may have to pay more for boneless meat, but it’s probably still cheaper than years of therapy of dealing with the whole pheasant trauma. LOL!
Christina
(www.singlecitychick.blogspot.com)
nyc/caribbean ragazza on 31 Jan 2007 at 5:28 pm #
delizioso!
I find for dishes like this, chicken breasts are okay but a little dry.
Shan on 01 Feb 2007 at 4:12 am #
Christina I am totally with you on the bones in meat thing. It drives my husband nuts. When I was pregnant with the girls it was at an all time high. I’d be lucky if I could get one bite down.
That looks like a yummy recipe. I’ll have to give it a try.
sognatrice on 02 Feb 2007 at 10:48 am #
I have to agree with NYC here; I have a feeling the breasts might end up being too dry. For this one, you need those bones in there, people…sheesh