Poulet Basquaise

• servings: 4 servings
• total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, about 4 lb, cut into 8 pieces

Salt

Pepper

Pinch of cayenne pepper or piment d’Espelètte

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 red bell peppers, cut into fine julienne

2 green bell peppers, cut into fine julienne

1 onion, thinly sliced

16 ounces canned Italian plum tomatoes

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup water

1/2 cube chicken bouillon or 1/2 cup light chicken stock or broth (See Note)

3 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped

Rice pilaf

Directions

Season the chicken all over with salt, pepper, and piment d'Espelètte. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, about 2 minutes. When the oil is hot, add the butter. When the butter has melted and the foam has subsided, add the chicken, skin side down, and brown on that side only, about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside on the plate. Add the peppers and onion to the pot and reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the wine, scraping, scraping — as always — to get the good stuff up. Cook until the wine is reduced by half, then add the water and the bouillon cube or broth. Return the chicken to the pot, making sure to add all the juices on the plate. Cover the pot and simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a platter. Crank up the heat to high and boil the sauce until it has thickened and reduced, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with rice pilaf.