Chicken Portugese a la Maria

Certain parties (Theresa) have been pestering me for years for my version of this recipe. Finally, I have bothered to record what I actually do, rather than what the rather stained photocopy from Cooking at the Academy says*.

The original recipe produces a quartered chicken in a vegetable sauce, takes nowhere near as long, and is nowhere near as good as this fifth-derivative chicken stew. Start to finish, this recipe takes about 3 hours, the first two of which are completely hands-on. It is best served with homemade rosemary bread, which I will get around to posting at some later date. While this is not a quick meal, it is an exceptionally good one. You're welcome.

Seasoned Flour:

1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 t. garlic powder

1.5 t. onion powder

1 t salt

2 t black pepper (finely ground)

1/4-1/2 t. dried thyme

1/4-1/2 t. dried rosemary, crushed

~2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized chunks (.75-1" is what I do. Breasts are easiest, thighs are tastiest.)

8 oz sliced mushrooms

1 medium/large onion, chopped into 1/4" dice

2/3 head garlic, peeled, trimmed and chopped into 1/4" dice

1 14.5 oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained, seeded, and chopped

olive oil

3/4 c. white wine

1 c. chicken stock

3/4 c chopped parsley

Combine spices for seasoned flour in a mortar and pestle and grind until relatively uniform. Add spices to flour in a large, shallow bowl.

Heat 2 T of olive oil in a 5 qt dutch oven on stove (high-end of medium heat).

Toss a handful of chicken chunks in the flour mixture and coat thoroughly. Shake the chicken pieces off and saute on each side until golden brown. Move cooked chicken to a bowl and continue with this process until all of the chicken is cooked. If you have any of the flour mixture left at the end, throw it in with the last handful of chicken. Add oil to the pot as necessary.

After removing the last of the chicken from the dutch oven, add a bit more oil, then the onions, garlic. Saute 1-2 minutes stirring constantly then add mushrooms, saute for 1 minute stirring constantly and add tomatoes.

Add white wine to the pot and scrape at the bottom to release any stuck-on bits. Add chicken stock. Return chicken to the pot. Stir. If the liquid in the pot is a bit pasty, add a little bit more liquid so that it loosens up a bit. The liquid should NOT cover the chicken and whatnot in the pot.

Add parsley and stir. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for ~30 minutes. Serve with rosemary bread.

Note: If you are feeling quite fancy (and tolerant of soggy bread) make the rosemary bread into bread bowls. If you are feeding Barney, he will love it.

* I photocopy essentially all of my recipes and store them in binders**, organized by category (assuming they are worth making again). It keeps my books readable and is darn handy when I'm going through the freezer with only half a functioning brain cell and want a no-fail recipe.

**We are currently at 3 binders, but that will probably increase in the near future when we have the recipe reckoning and actually file away the giant pile of xeroxes that are accumulating.