Anita Bakers Smothered Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large heavy skillet set over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, rubbing it into the skin. Add chicken, skin-side down; cook, turning once, until well browned. Remove, and set aside.
• Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in the same skillet. Sprinkle in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until golden brown. Add onion, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth; bring to a boil. Return chicken to skillet. Cook, partially covered, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened. Transfer to a serving platter; garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large heavy skillet set over medium heat.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper, rubbing it into the skin.
• Add chicken, skin-side down to the skillet; cook, turning once, until well browned. Remove and set aside.
• Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in the same skillet.
• Sprinkle in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until golden brown.
• Add onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.
• Whisk in chicken broth; bring to a boil.
• Return chicken to skillet. Cook, partially covered, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened.
• Transfer to a serving platter; garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Brown the chicken: Heat 2 large skillets over high heat. Add half of the oil to each. Arrange the chicken on a tray in a single layer and season with salt. Turn the pieces over and season the other side. When the oil begins to smoke lightly, carefully add the chicken, skin side down, to the skillets, leaving space between each piece of chicken. Reduce the heat to medium and allow the chicken to brown on their first side, 5 to 8 minutes. Resist the temptation to move or turn the pieces. Use metal tongs to carefully turn the chicken pieces to their second side and brown 3 to 5 additional minutes. Transfer the chicken pieces to a tray and set aside.
• Prepare the garlic: Grate 6 of the cloves of garlic and set aside for the sauce. Cut the remaining 12 cloves in half lengthwise.
• Make the sauce: In one of the skillets you cooked the chicken in, add the cumin and coriander and stir rapidly over medium-low heat to give them a quick toast, 10 to 15 seconds. Immediately add the onions and grated garlic. Season with salt and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onions turn light brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick, pepper flakes, bay leaves and tomatoes. Allow the tomatoes to cook, breaking them apart with a spoon as they cook, 8 to 10 minutes, and then add 1 cup water.
• Toast the garlic cloves: In the other skillet the you cooked the chicken in, arrange the garlic halves in a single layer in the cooking grease. Toast the garlic over low heat until golden brown and crisped, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the garlic from the skillet, sprinkle with salt and drain on a kitchen towel.
• Finish cooking the chicken: Arrange the chicken pieces, skin side up, in the sauce. Cover the skillet, keep the heat low and continue cooking until the pieces are cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the cover and stir in the ginger, cream and vinegar. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 additional minutes.
• Test the center of a thigh to make sure the chicken is cooked through. It should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F and the juices should run "clear," not pink. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Top with the toasted garlic and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large heavy skillet set over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, rubbing it into the skin. Add chicken, skin-side down; cook, turning once, until well browned. Remove, and set aside.
• Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in the same skillet. Sprinkle in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until golden brown. Add onion, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth; bring to a boil. Return chicken to skillet. Cook, partially covered, until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened. Transfer to a serving platter; garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken pieces with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Dredge in 3/4 cup flour, place in the skillet, and brown on all sides. Set chicken aside, and drain skillet, reserving about 1 tablespoon butter.
• Reduce skillet heat to medium-low, and stir in onions, celery, garlic, and carrots. Cook 5 minutes, until tender. Stir in the flour, and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in the chicken broth, season with cayenne pepper, and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low.
• Return chicken to the skillet, cover, and continue cooking 30 minutes, until chicken juices run clear and gravy has thickened.

Steps:

• Brown chicken: Dry chicken thighs thoroughly using paper towels. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the oil over high heat. When the oil is rippling, carefully lay the chicken, skin side down in an even layer, into the hot oil. (You may need to do this in batches to avoid crowding.) Allow the chicken to brown for 5 minutes on each side, adjusting the heat from high to medium-high as needed to prevent burning. When the chicken has been browned, return all of the pieces to the pot, lower heat to medium-low, and continue to cook the meat through, turning occasionally, 15 more minutes.
• Caramelize onions: Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. There should be caramelized bits of meat and skin, or "fond," stuck to the bottom of the pot. Turn the heat back to medium and add onions to the accumulated chicken fat. Sweat the onions until they start to caramelize and stick to the bottom, stirring often, 10 minutes. Deglaze the bottom of the pot by scraping with a wooden spoon to release the fond. Add celery, garlic, poblano and jalapeño peppers; stir to combine. Allow the onion mixture to sit undisturbed for long enough to create more fond, then stir to deglaze; repeat this process for about 45 minutes.As the water cooks out, the onions will begin to darken and caramelize, and as the caramelization progresses, it will take less time to stir and deglaze the pan. You will be done when most of the liquid is cooked out, and you see only clear fat at the edges of the pot. (It may be challenging to keep up with the speed of the fond sticking to the bottom-it's a labor of love, but worth it!)
• Sauce: When the onion mixture has reduced in volume by ⅔ to a paste-like consistency and no liquid is left in the pot, add the chicken back in. Begin building the sauce by adding water, a ½ cup at a time. Continue the same process of creating a fond on the bottom of the pot then deglazing, allowing the chicken and onion mixture to go through the caramelizing process again. Repeat this step until the onion mixture is a dark brown paste and the chicken is starting to fall apart, 10 minutes. Add remaining water to cover (adding more water if necessary), and salt to taste. Stir, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, 1 hour.
• When the dish is ready, chicken thighs will be very tender and falling off the bone in a rich brown gravy. Season with more salt to taste and about 16 cranks of black pepper. Fold in scallions. Serve over hot rice. It's a "rib-sticking, sloppy dish," and it's meant to be eaten that way.

Steps:

• Season chicken with salt, pepper & garlic. Place pieces skin side down, one layer deep in a shallow baking pan lined with foil. Dribble the melted butter over the chicken, distributing well. Close foil tightly. Place in 450°F oven for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is slightly brown.
• While baking, use this time to blend together water & flour until smooth; set aside.
• Remove chicken from oven; tilt pan and blend into the drippings the water/flour mix. Gravy will start to thicken. Stir it around over bottom of pan and turn chicken, then salt & pepper chicken.
• Return to oven and reduce heat to 350°F and bake 45 - 60 minutes.
• Baste once or twice, adding a little boiling water if gravy has cooked down low before chicken is done. serve with rice or mashed potatoes.