I'm cooking for company tonight, and I'm doing one of my few favorite/recurring recipes. It's been on my mind since Traci mentioned in email that she made it last week. It's become a regular at her house, too.
Here's the original post from FLDG Classic:
Date: 04-Nov-2001 17:08
Author: Jenise
Subject: RC: Tuscan Braised Chicken with Porcini Mushrooms
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I had been craving this dish for the longest time, but I had been out of porcini mushrooms. I finally bought some yesterday (I think I'll start another thread about that).
This is one of my all-time favorite dishes, rustic and satisfying and so darned simple it would be easy to dismiss it as too much so just on reading the brief ingredients list. This dish is really about the beautiful thing that happens when these particular flavors combine during long, slow cooking.
Do not consider substituting other mushrooms, by the way. No other mushroom has the same flavor of porcini and though other types of mushrooms would produce a tasty dish, it won't be THIS dish without porcini.
I served the chicken on orzo simply dressed with parmesan and butter, but my usual preference is for crispy pan-fried polenta cakes lightly specked with gorgonzola and parsley.
Serves four.
1 chicken, quartered
2 lbs tomatoes, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1/4 c Olive Oil
In a Dutch oven or large saute pan big enough for all four chicken pieces to rest comfortably on the bottom, soften the carrot, celery and onion in olive oil. Remove vegetables and reserve, then add chicken pieces. When the chicken has browned, pour off the chicken fat, then cover the chicken with the cooked vegetables, tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms. Cover and simmer for 1.5 hours. When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pan and use an immersion blender to lightly puree the remaining sauce.
