Provencale vs. Veracruz

And the winner is......

They're both winners because they're easy, tasty and will make people think you've been cooking for hours!!

Following are the two recipes for Provencale and Veracruz that I use.  The first one is for Chicken Provencale but you don't have to make it with chicken the way it describes.  For instance, I made the sauce earlier and used a TBL of butter in place of the chicken fat.  The next day, I flattened a chicken breast, grilled it and then heated my sauce and poured it over, followed by some freshly grated parmesan.  You can also serve it over fish, like grilled halibut.  And you can dump all the ingredients in a crock pot on top of some chicken, set it and forget it and come home to a house that smells incredible and a finished dinner.

Pasta is great with it, too.

Chicken Provencal - Poulet Provencal
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

6 - 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 tsp of olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 anchovy fillet, minced or 1 1/2 tsp. anchovy paste
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 C dry white wine
1 C chicken stock/broth
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
2 1/2 TBL tomato paste
1 1/2 TBL fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 1/2 TBL fresh oregano1 bay leaf
1 tsp herbes de Provence (optional)
1/3 C nicoise olives, pitted and roughly chopped
Zest from 1 lemon
2 Tbsp fresh parsley

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook the chicken thighs in batches (4 at a time if you’re cooking 8, since I was cooking 6 small thighs, I squeezed them all in there). Add the thighs skin side down and cook until the skin is crisp and golden brown, about 5 minutes. At first the skin will stick to the pot but when they start to brown, they'll release easier from the pan. Turn the thighs over and brown the second side until golden brown, another 5 minutes. Remove the chicken thighs and set aside. Drain all but 2 tsp of fat from the pot.

Add the onions to the pot and cook over medium heat until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, anchovy, tomato paste, and cayenne and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. 

Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits and then add the chicken broth, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, and herbes de Provence (if using). 

Remove the skins from the chicken thighs and nestle them into the pot with any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer then either cook in the oven at 300ºF for about 1 hour or barely simmering over low heat for an hour. 

Remove the chicken and set aside and discard the bay leaf. Cook the contents in the pot over high heat until thickened and reduced, about 5 minutes. Stir in olives and cook for 1 minute. Then off heat stir in the parsley and lemon zest and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with crusty bread.