Poulet Basquaise
Anthony Bourdain’s Basque Chicken Recipe,
Featuring Esplette Pepper
Grab some white wine from your cabinet and come in for some esplette pepper, and make this tasty chicken recipe by our favorite chef and traveler, Anthony Bourdain. Chris and I fell in love with the Basque region of Spain and France when we visited for his birthday last year, and came home with a jar of esplette pepper. It is a very mild pepper with a hint of smoke and a great almost peachy flavor. It lends such a great taste to this recipe which combines white wine, tomatoes, and onions and bell peppers. We plated it with some rice pilaf (basmati and orzo from us, of course, wtih chopped dried apricots sliced almonds).
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds, cut into 8 pieces
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp piment d’Espelètte
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
mushrooms (optional, we enjoyed the addition)
16 ounces canned Italian plum tomatoes
1 cup white wine
1 tablespoon of KAWI veggie broth
3 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped
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, mushrooms, 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 to get the good stuff up.
Cook until the wine is reduced by half, then add the veggie 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.
Plate with rice pilaf and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley.
From Food & Wine
