Braised chicken with almonds, olives, raisins and lemon recipe
This combination of raisins, olives and almonds may suggest a more Middle Eastern-style flavour profile, but altogether, those components really just make this dish a bit sweet, salty and savoury.
Serve it on top of some polenta or with some steamed cous cous and you have a delicious, comforting meal. And don't be put off by the long cook time – it's mostly hands-off and the gentle braising is what makes the chicken taste amazing.
Ingredients
- 4 whole chicken legs or chicken Marylands (leg quarters)
- 8 –12 chicken wings (wing tip separated and reserved for stock, wing split at the joint)
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra if needed
- 1 preserved lemon, rinsed
- 1 bunch spring onions (scallions), green parts cut off and reserved, white parts quartered
- 10 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
- 100 ml white wine
- 800 ml chicken stock
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- 15 whole pitted green olives
- 30 g sultanas or raisins
- 30 g toasted almonds
Details
- Cuisine: American
- Recipe Type: Chicken
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 20 mins
- Cooking Time: 100 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Season your chicken legs and wings with salt and pepper and leave to sit at room temperature for 15–20 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a wide ovenproof sauté pan over a medium-high heat and brown the chicken pieces all over. Do not move them around or flip them too much while browning. If all the wing pieces don’t fit at the same time, you can do this in two batches, just add a bit more olive oil if needed.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
- To prepare the preserved lemon, cut the flesh out of the lemon and discard. Finely slice the pith and skin and set aside.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and immediately add the quartered onion and garlic cloves. Allow those to soften and begin to colour for about 10 minutes over a medium heat.
- Add the flour and stir to moisten it with the oil and cook it out. Next, add the white wine and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the stock and bring up to a simmer.
- Once simmering, add the honey, vinegar, bay leaves, preserved lemon, olives and sultanas, and stir to combine. Return the chicken to the pan, skin side down. Bring the whole lot to a simmer, then place a lid on the pan, slightly ajar, or a piece of baking paper (cartouche). Alternatively, transfer everything to a baking dish and cover with aluminium foil.
- Place in the oven, then drop the temperature to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the chicken is tender.
- Flip the chicken over onto the skin side, remove the lid or cartouche and cook for another 20 minutes, so that the liquid can reduce a bit further.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside, semi-covered, for about 20 minutes.
- Roughly crush the almonds in a mortar and pestle so they remain fairly chunky, then sprinkle on top of the chicken. Serve immediately or cool and reheat when ready.
This recipe is from Always Add Lemon by Danielle Alvarez, (Hardie Grant, £26.61). Photography: © Benito Martin and Jess Johnson.
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