Best Braised Chicken With Apricots Green Olives And Herbed Couscous Recipes

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS, GREEN OLIVES, AND HERBED COUSCOUS

Braised Chicken with Apricots, Green Olives, and Herbed Couscous image

Categories Chicken Olive Side Bake Stew Apricot Boil

Yield serves 6

Number Of Ingredients 17

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 pounds chicken thighs (about 12), bone in, skin on, preferably free-range
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
1 medium white onion, cut into large dice
3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dried apricots (about 20)
1 1/2 cups pitted green olives, such as Manzanilla
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup orange juice
1 cup couscous
6 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Spread the flour in a large shallow plate. Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken lightly in the flour to coat all sides, tapping off the excess. Put a Dutch oven or large ovenproof pot over high heat and coat with the oil. When the oil is shimmering, add 5 pieces of chicken and brown them for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, without moving them around too much so you get a good sear. Transfer the chicken to a platter and repeat with the remaining thighs.
To the drippings in the pot, add the carrots, onion, and celery. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables soften and begin to get some color. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, the cinnamon, apricots, olives, and stock. Nestle the chicken in the pot so the thighs are covered with apricots, olives, and stock. Pour any drippings collected from the platter into the pot. Bring the stew to a boil, then cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 1 hour, or until your kitchen smells amazing.
Combine the orange juice, 1/2 cup water, and 1 tablespoon salt in a small pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the couscous, and quickly cover to keep in the heat. Let stand for 10 minutes, until the couscous is soft.
Combine the scallions, cilantro, and mint in a small bowl.
Remove the chicken from the oven and gently stir in the butter until completely melted.
To serve, put the couscous in a serving bowl and fluff with a fork. Fold in half of the scallion mixture. Sprinkle the remaining scallion mixture over the braised chicken, and serve it right out of the pot.

WINE-BRAISED CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS

Wine-Braised Chicken with Apricots image

Provided by Ree Drummond : Food Network

Categories main-dish

Time 2h40m

Yield 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 17

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 chicken hind quarters
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic, peeled
4 carrots, cut into large chunks
2 red onions, cut into quarters
2 cups dry white wine (any kind)
2 cups chicken stock
16 dried apricots
4 sprigs rosemary
Cheese Grits, recipe follows
Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup quick grits
2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
4 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons salted butter

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Add the olive oil to a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, place the chicken pieces skin-side down in a single layer in the pot. Cook on both sides, turning several times, until the skin is browned, about 4 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Add the garlic, carrot chunks and onion quarters, followed by the wine, stock, apricots and rosemary. Stir together, then return the chicken to the pot. Bring to the boil, cover and braise in the oven until the chicken and vegetables are tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
Serve the chicken over Cheese Grits with the onions, carrots, garlic and apricots, making sure to get a spoonful or two of the cooking liquid. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Slowly stir in the grits, then return to a boil and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
Turn down the heat to low and stir in the Cheddar and cream cheese. Cook until the Cheddar is melted and the cream cheese is incorporated into the mixture, another 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the butter and keep warm until ready to serve.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH APRICOTS AND OLIVES

Roast Chicken With Apricots and Olives image

This festive dish is a fairly easy main course for the Seder meal - or anytime. Marinating overnight leaves very little work on the day of serving, but two hours is enough to infuse the chicken with tangy citrus and the sumac. Dried apricots, already more tart than sweet, are marinated along with the chicken and become almost savory in the oven. Using pitted Castelvetrano olives will save you a lot of elbow grease, and their meaty texture and mild flavor are perfect here. After roasting together, everything goes under the broiler to deeply brown and thicken the cooking juices into a tasty sauce.

Provided by Susan Spungen

Categories dinner, poultry, main course

Time 3h

Yield 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 14

Ingredients

3 1/2 to 4 pounds bone-in chicken pieces (see Note)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 1 lemon, sliced and seeded
1/4 cup fresh blood orange or regular orange juice
1/4 cup honey
4 to 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons ground sumac
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup (6 ounces) dried apricots
1 cup (4 ounces) pitted Castelvetrano olives with 2 tablespoons brine
4 large or 8 small shallots, roots trimmed, peeled and cut lengthwise into quarters or halves
1/4 cup dry white wine

Steps:

Slash each piece of chicken through the skin a few times, about 1 inch deep. Season with the salt and pepper and place in a large bowl or large resealable plastic bag. Whisk lemon juice, orange juice, honey, garlic, thyme, sumac and 3 tablespoons olive oil in a bowl to combine. Add lemon slices, apricots, olives and olive brine. Pour the marinade over the chicken and cover tightly or remove as much air as possible before sealing it. Set on a small sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours, turning the bag from time to time.
Position a rack 8 inches from the broiler heat source. Place an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 450 degrees. Toss shallots with remaining tablespoon oil and spread out on a large sheet pan, cut sides down. Place on the lower rack and cook, turning once, until starting to turn golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and use your hands and a slotted spoon to scoop the chicken, apricots, lemon slices and olives onto the pan, reserving the marinade. Arrange in an even layer with the chicken skin side up and return to the oven. Cook for 15 minutes, baste the chicken with the drippings, and cook until chicken juices run clear, about 10 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the oven. Heat the broiler to high.
Pour the reserved marinade and wine over the chicken, and broil until the chicken is browned and the liquid is thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. If the apricots start to get too dark, turn them over in the sauce. Transfer to a platter. If you used chicken breasts, cut them in half. Pour the sauce over everything or serve it on the side.