Best Varna Style Braised Chicken Bulgarian Dish Recipes

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH PRUNE SAUCE

Steps:

• Pat chicken thouroughly dry with paper towel and sprinkle sides with salt and pepper In a 10 to 12-inch skillet melt two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of oil over high heat.
• Add chicken skin-side down and reduce heat to moderate.
• Fry until sides are golden brown.
• (Don't worry if the inside is pink, we will be cooking the chicken more later) Transfer the chicken to a plate.
• Add the celery, carrot, and onion to the fat remaining in pan, stirring occasionally, and cook until the vegetables are soft but NOT brown.
• Return the chicken to the pan and lay the parsley and bay leaf on top.
• Pour in 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
• Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Lower the heat and simmer for thirty minutes, basting it from time to time with the juices in the pan Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of water, the 1 1/2 cups of prunes, the lemon juice, and the sugar.
• Place on high heat.
• Bring prunes to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until prunes are tender.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken from the skillet and arrange attractively on an ovenproof platter.
• Scatter the cooked prunes over the top.
• Cover the platter loosely with foil and put it into the oven.
• Press hard on the vegetables with a spoonback releasing the juices.
• Discard vegetables.
• Set juices aside.
• Melt two tablespoons of butter in the skillet and add the flour.
• Cook on high heat until flour is golden brown.
• Pour in the 1/2 cup of reserved prune juice and the 1/2 cup of reserved pan juices (if there is less then 1/2 cup, make up for it by augmenting it with the chicken broth) Boil until sauce is smooth and thickened.
• Serve at once.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH CARAMELIZED BALSAMIC-BROWN SUGAR GLAZE

Steps:

• Melt butter with 1 teaspoon of the Liquid Smoke.
• Saute shallots until golden, then add garlic.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste, then brown chicken about 10 minutes, turning once.
• Add garlic and one cup of water to skillet and boil, stirring, one minute.
• Return chicken to skillet and arrange skin sides up.
• Gently simmer, covered, until chicken is cooked through and garlic is tender, about 35 minutes.
• Remove chicken from skillet; add balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and remaining one teaspoon of Liquid Smoke.
• Boil, uncovered, until slightly thickened.
• Return chicken to pan and allow sauce to vinegar-sugar mixture to caramelize a bit on the chicken, about 10 more minutes.
• Season to tast with salt and pepper and serve!

CREAMY BRAISED CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven or large skillet, bring 6 cups water to a boil; add pearl onions; boil 3 minutes, drain & rinse in cold water; peel and set aside.
• In the same pan, saute sliced onions, carrot and celery in 1 tablespoon butter until tender; remove vegetables; set aside.
• Add chicken to the pan; brown on both sides; remove and keep warm.
• Add wine; simmer until reduced to 1/2 cup; stir in broth and seasonings.
• Return chicken to pan; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until juices run clear; Remove chicken to platter; keep warm.
• Combine flour and milk until smooth; gradually stir into pan; bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
• Return vegetables to pan; remove from heat; cover and set aside.
• In a nonstick skillet, saute reserved pearl onions in remaining butter until tender; remove and set aside.
• In the same pan, saute mushrooms until tender.
• Add onions & mushrooms to serving platter. Discard bay leaf from sauce; spoon over chicken and vegetables, serve.

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS & ONIONS

Steps:

• Cook noodles as directed on package; drain and keep warm.
• Meanwhile, combine flour, salt and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken breasts. Turn several times to coat chicken.
• Heat a 10-inch skillet coated with non-stick spray over medium-high heat until hot; add chicken. Cover and cook, turning once, until chicken is browned (7-8 minutes). Remove chicken from skillet; keep warm.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Add mushrooms, onions and wine. Cook, covered, until mushrooms are tender (2-3 minutes).
• Increase heat to medium. Add cooked chicken, tomatoes and sugar. Cook until mixture comes to a boil (1-2 minutes). Cover; cook until chicken is no longer pink (8-9 minutes).
• Serve chicken over cooked egg noodles.

BULGARIAN CHICKEN

Steps:

• In dutch oven on stovetop, heat up olive oil. (If you have a thick one, use vegetable oil because it has a higher tolerance of temperature... won't burn out as quick as olive oil). Brown chicken lightly.
• Add all remaining ingredients except for parsley. Stir well.
• Cover tightly and let cook over low - low / medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender (about 2 hours).
• Turn off heat. Add parsley, mix, cover and let standd for 25-30 minutes before serving.
• ** Sauce will not be thick. If you want a thicker sauce, during last 5 minutes of cooking, mix 1-2 Tbs cornstarch or flour in separate bowl along with a few ladels of hot broth from pot. Mix away all lumps and add mixture back to pot.

BRAISED LEMON CHICKEN

Steps:

• Rinse chicken and pat dry.
• Trim and discard pockets of fat.
• In a bowl, mix vinegar and oil, and season to taste.
• Add thighs and turn to coat.
• Cover and chill 1 hour.
• After 1 hour chilling time, preheat oven to 350F while continuing with recipe.
• Set a 5 to 6 quart ovenproof pan with lid over medium-high heat.
• Lift chicken thighs from marinade (reserve marinade) and arrange in a single layer in pan.
• Turn as necessary to brown on both sides, 4 to 6 minutes total.
• Transfer chicken to a rimmed plate and lower heat under pan.
• Add shallots and garlic to pan and stir frequently until shallots are limp, about 5 minutes.
• Return chicken to pan and add marinade, lemons, vermouth, and herbes de Provence.
• Cover pan.
• Transfer to preheated oven and bake until chicken is very tender when pierced, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spoon into bowls to serve.

CHICKEN GHIVECI (ROMANIAN BRAISED CHICKEN)

Steps:

• heat oil in large wok or casserole pan until hot enough to cook.
• add onions and garlic stir frying 1 min until soft.
• add bell pepper and stir fry for 1 minute
• add chicken cut ups and brown both sides 10-13 minutes.
• add rest of ingredients, stir fry for 1 min then cover and cook for 40-45 mins until the chicken looks cooked and there's no blood when pierced by a fork near the bones.
• garnish with thyme or rosemary (optional) and serve with bread or rice.