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Saturday, November 12, 2011

savory olive onion chicken


Sometimes the elementally simple is most enjoyable way to cook--I wanted to share a recipe for an onion-olive chicken dish from last night, one that had unexpected depth of flavor coaxed from basic Mediterranean ingredients.

In our kitchen, chicken thighs are the canvas for dishes of all kinds. In this recipe, their rich flavor and texture alchemizes so well with the classic tastes of olive oil, garlic, and olives...

Savory Chicken Thighs with Onions and Olives

4 chicken thighs, preferably free range
2 large yellow onions (and I do mean large), cut in half then chopped in medium pieces
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
one cup (or more) high quality olives...your favorites, pitted
and sliced
a fresh bright sheaf of Italian parsley, washed

Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a large skillet, as it warms, add a sliver of butter. If it melts and sizzles, toss in your onion pieces. Caramelized onions are the backbone of this dish, so cook them with care to coax out their sugary golden potential. As they start to color, add garlic.


After a few minutes of cooking, push the onion/garlic to one side of the pan and add chicken thighs, season with salt, fresh ground pepper (and if you like, a dash of cardamom) and brown them on both sides to a deep bronzy tone. Patiently.

Add sliced olives to the pan...

Combine the chicken/onion/garlic and snip parsley over (using kitchen shears), cook another minute or so and serve...goes nicely with buttered gnocchi!

16 comments:

Robin O said...

absolute poetry.

Judy said...

looks like we have a contender for Sunday Sup! Thanks for the inspiration!

tinyskillet said...

You had me at olive! This looks really good, can't wait to try it.

Cooking Gallery said...

What a beautiful dish! I love how simple the recipe sounds!

Bentobird said...

Aw, thank you dear Robin!

Bentobird said...

Hey there Judy! We enjoyed this, hope you guys will as well!

Bentobird said...

Thanks Lynds dear!

Bentobird said...

Hi CG, what's new? Thanks for your kind comments!

Arudhi said...

Jenn, reading your post made me realize that although olive oil is what I use for my daily cooking, I`ve never cooked anything with olive! Thank you for the idea and I`m sure I`ll love this beautiful dish!

Lexi (Escape from the Sofa) said...

Wow - this sounds amazing! I have a pasta recipe with capers and chicken, but haven't tried olives. I feel inspired now!

Heidi Poe said...

Sounds soooo good! And even better, I know I can cook it! I will definitely make this for dinner sometime this week :) Thanks for posting the recipe~

Bentobird said...

Hi Arudhi! Thanks friend, hope you'll give this a try and ENJOY!

Bentobird said...

Hi Lexi! I love capers, so briny and salty good...

Bentobird said...

Thanks Heidi, loved your comments! This is an easy and fun recipe, hope you'll like it as much as we did!

Susan Yuen said...

Wow, that looks heavenly! I will definitely have to try your recipe. Thank you! :)

Bentobird said...

Hope you'll enjoy, friend!