I found this recipe in Anna del Conte’s Classic Food of Northern Italy. It originates from an Umbrian cook, Zia Lidoria, and though in her version is for rabbit, it works well for chicken. [see below one way to cut up a chicken].
The long initial browning of the chicken is a little scary; the pieces seem to be shrinking alarmingly, but they come back to life when liquid is added.
Browning up
1 chicken–cut up into 8/10 pieces
1 tablespoon sage leaves
3 garlic cloves
6 tablespoons olive oil
5 floz white wine vinegar
5 floz hot water
rind of half a lemon—removed without the white pith
2 tblsps capers—drained and squeezed
4 anchovy fillets
1 tblsp chickpea flour
Salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan.
Chop the garlic and sage together.
Fry the mixture gently until the garlic begins to colour—a couple of minutes.
Add the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them over well in the garlic, sage and oil mixture.
This is the long bit and will take about 45 minutes!
Keeping the heat low, turn the pieces every few minutes as they begin to take on a good colour.
Hold your nerve and when they are nicely browned add the vinegar and hot water.
Turn the chicken in the liquid, season well with salt and pepper and cover the pan.
Cook on a low heat for a further 40 minutes.
While the chicken cooks on, chop the lemon rind, the capers and the anchovies finely together, then sprinkle in the flour, stirring it in well.
When it’s time, remove the chicken pieces and keep them warm in a heated serving bowl, covered with a lid or foil.
Try the sauce in the pan and if necessary reduce it a little to concentrate the taste.
Stir in the lemon rind mix and cook for a minute.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with brown basmati rice or chickpea mash.
We had some broccoli with it last night.
Mark Bitman of the New York Times bones a chicken in this video and explains clearly how to do it and why there are good reasons to try.
Robin Ellis 