Potted Chicken

My mother came from Poland and I grew up eating potted beef flanken, potted meatballs, potted lamb chops.  You get the idea.  Since I just assumed this was an eastern European way of cooking, I was surprised to find a recipe for potted chicken in an Italian cookbook.  Who knew that this was a "common country favorite" in Italy? I made it tonight for dinner.  It is not exciting.  It is simple, comforting and old fashioned. Give it a try if you crave a break from what's new and are ready for just plain satisfying.

1  3 1/2 pound chicken, preferably free range, cut into pieces

3 tbl. extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

2 medium onions, sliced

1/2 cup dry white wine

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

about 4 cups boiling water

3 sprigs rosemary

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot that will hold the chicken in a single layer (See notes).  Saute the chicken, turning the pieces until they are well browned on all sides, about 20 minutes.     

Transfer the chicken to a plate and brown the potatoes in the same pot.  Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and place them on another plate.  Brown the onions until a deep color, but not burned, about 10 minutes.  Remove onions and place them on a third plate.

Carefully pour any remaining grease out of the pot.  Return the pot to the stove, add the white wine and deglaze the pot by using a wooden spoon to scrape up bits stuck to the bottom.  On medium-low, continue to deglaze for 3 minutes.

Return the chicken to the pot, cover it with half the onions and season well with salt and pepper.  Add the potatoes in a single layer and then the remaining onions.  Season with more salt and pepper.  Pour enough of the boiling water into the pot to barely cover the contents. Put in the rosemary.  Slowly bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, with the cover askew, for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the chicken is almost falling off the bone.

Serve the chicken and vegetables, covered with the gravy, in pasta bowls.

Serves 4

Based on recipe for Gaddina Aggrassata in Bruculinu, America by Vincent Schiavelli

Notes: Give yourself a 1/2 hour for browning all the ingredients, making total cooking time about 1 1/2 hours.  I did not peel the potatoes and they came out fine. I don't have a pot large enough to hold all the chicken in one layer so I browned half of the chicken in a large fry pan. I'm not sure if putting everything in separate plates after  browning and then layering the chicken and vegetables makes any difference in the flavor but I did as I was told.