Chicken Canzanese Recipes

Steps:

• Place the chicken pieces in a mixing bowl; cover with cold water and add 1 tablespoon salt. Let stand 1 hour. Drain and pat dry.
• Arrange the chicken pieces in one layer in a frying pan fitted with a lid and add the sage, bay leaves, garlic, cloves, rosemary, peppercorns and, if using red chili. Cut the prosciutto into small cubes and sprinkle it over the chicken. Add the wine and 1/4 cup water. Do not add salt, since the prosciutto will season the dish. Cover and simmer until the chicken is nearly done. 30 to 40 minutes. Uncover and cook briefly over high heat until the sauce is reduced slightly.

Steps:

• 1. Add 3 tablespoons kosher salt or coarse sea salt to a large bowl. Dissolve in about 1/2 cup warm water. Lay the chicken pieces in the bowl and cover with cold water (about 4 cups). Let stand for about 1 hour. Drain and pat dry.
• 2. Arrange the chicken pieces in one layer in a skillet and add the sage, bay leaves, garlic, cloves, rosemary, peppercorns, and red pepper. Cut the prosciutto into small cubes and sprinkle it over the chicken. Add the wine and water. Do not add salt, since the prosciutto will season the dish. Cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes.
• 3. Remove the chicken to a plate and reduce the cooking juices until concentrated and a little syrupy-taste it to see. Serve the chicken in shallow bowls with the juices (and slivered garlic and prosciutto) spooned on top. Mop up juices with country bread.
• Cooking notes:
• A great chicken dish deserves (and depends on) a great chicken-buy the highest-quality bird you can find. The best place to look is a farmers' market.
• The chicken never browns, so if presentation is your thing, avert your eyes-or simply pull the meat from the bones and make a warm salad with escarole, the broth, and prosciutto. Or use the meat and sauce to make a very simple pasta dish. Whatever you do, be careful not to overcook the chicken. And serve it right after cooking, when its aromatics are most intense.
• The original recipe said it serves 4, but when I made the dish for my mother and me, we polished off the whole thing. Only count on it serving 4 if you're making a bunch of side dishes.
• It may seem strange to buy expensive prosciutto and cut it into cubes, but don't skimp on the quality of prosciutto. I did once and was punished with a salty sauce. If you can only get indifferent prosciutto, add less of it.
• Readers:
• "I remember that I used the recipe the first time because chicken was affordable for a crowd and the ingredients then seemed different but not weird. This recipe as I read and reread it over the years pushed me to learn more about cooking. Why not brown the chicken pieces? (Giobbi does not.) What about putting it all together and sticking it in the oven? What if I chopped the seasonings and put them in the cavity and under the skin of a roasting chicken and then, well, roasted it? The recipe with its time-proven flavors (back to the Renaissance at least?) has never failed.
• "For me, this is one of those recipes that permutes endlessly as the seasons, the occasion, or the cook's mood changes. Sometimes (often) I do brown the chicken, sometimes use pancetta instead of prosciutto, sometimes add a little chopped tomato, sometimes introduce porcini mushrooms. If the company at dinner have dietary restrictions, oil-cured black olives can stand in for the pork. I have tried it with boneless chicken breasts only-satisfactory-and with guinea hen-excellent."
• From Jonatha Ceely, e-mail MAY 18, 1969: "CHICKEN BIG," BY CRAIG CLAIBORNE. RECIPE BY ED GIOBBI, WHO ADAPTED IT FROM A FAMILY FRIEND IN ITALY. -1969

Steps:

• Preheat oven 325°F.
• Remove leaves from rosemary and mince. Keep both leaves and stem.
• Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in 12 inch ovensafe skillet over medium heat until oil is shimmering. Add pancetta and cook until just starting to brown, about 2-3 minutes. Add garlic slices and cook, stirring until garlic is golden brown. Do not burn. Remove pancetta and garlic using slotted spoon and keep for later.
• In the same pan, increase the heat to medium high and add 2 tsp olive oil and heat until just smoking. Pat chicken dry with paper towel and sprinkle both sides with generous amount of pepper and bit of salt. Add chicken skin side down and cook without moving until nicely browned, about 6-8 minutes. Turn chicken and brown on second side for about 5 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to plate.
• Remove all but 2 T fat from pan. Sprinkle flour over fat and cook, stirring for about 1 minute and slowly add wine and chicken broth. Bring to simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits and cook until liquid is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in cloves, rosemary stem, sage, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and reserved pancetta-garlic mixture. Nestle chicken into liquid skin side up. Skin should be above the surface of liquid to keep it crisp at all times and bake, uncovered, until meat offers no resistance when poked with fork, about 1 hour. Check chicken after 15 minutes in the oven; broth should be barely bubbling and if bubbling too much, reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
• Using tongs, transfer chicken to serving platter and tent with foil to keep warm. Remove and discard rosemary stem, cloves, and bay leaves. Place skillet over high heat and bring sauce to boil. Cook until sauce is reduced to about 1 1/2 to 1 1/4 C, about 2 to 4 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in rosemary leaves, lemon juice and butter. Taste for salt and pepper. Pour sauce around chicken and serve.

Steps:

• Season the hens with salt and pepper. Spread the lardo in the base of a large skillet set over medium heat. Add 2 of the garlic cloves, and cook, rendering the fat, until the lardo just begins to brown. Discard the garlic.
• Increase heat to medium-high and add the hens, skin side down. Cook until skin is golden. Add 2 of the rosemary sprigs, the chilies and the remaining garlic. Turn the hens and add * cup of wine. Cover, lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 6 minutes. Remove the breast pieces and let the legs simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the salad: combine the prosciutto, arugula and currants in a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss to mix. Season with fleur de sel, and add more olive oil, if needed.
• Remove the lid from the skillet and discard the rosemary. Return the breasts, skin side up to the skillet and pour in the remaining wine. Boil down the juices and baste the hen parts for 1 minute. Pull the pan off the heat, add the butter and swirl to incorporate it.
• To serve, sprinkle the hens with rosemary leaves from the remaining sprig, spoon over a little sauce and accompany each piece with some salad.