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CHICKEN FRICASSEE WITH RED CABBAGE
Serves 4
In this fricassee, chicken pieces cook smothered in red cabbage, which keeps
them tender and invests them with some of its own sweetness. By the time
the chicken is done, the cabbage dissolves into a dense, clinging sauce.
1 cup onion, sliced very thin
a generous 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and each cut into 4 pieces
4 cups red cabbage shredded fine, about 1 pound
A 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup dry red wine
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Salt
1. Put the sliced onion, the 1/4 cup oil, and the garlic in a suté
pan, turn the heat on to medium, and cook the garlic until it becomes colored
a deep gold. Add the shredded cabbage. Stir thoroughly to coat well, sprinkle
with salt, stir again, adjust heat to cook at a gentle simmer and put a
lid on the pan. Cook the cabbage for 40 minutes or more, turning it over
from time to time, until it has become very tender and considerably reduced
in bulk.
Ahead - of time note:
The dish can be prepared up to this point even 2 or 3 days in advance. Reheat
completely in a covered pan before proceeding to the next step.
2. Wash the chicken pieces in cold water, and pat thoroughly dry with cloth
or paper towels.
3. In another pan, put in 1 table spoon of olive oil, turn on the heat to
medium, and, after warming up the oil very briefly, put in all the chicken
pieces skin side down in a single layer. Turn the chicken after a little
while to brown the pieces equally on both sides, then transfer them to the
other pan, all except the breast, which you'll hold aside until later. Turn
the chicken over in the cabbage, add the wine and a few grindings of pepper,
cover the pan, putting the lid on slightly ajar, and continue cooking at
a slow, steady simmer. From time to time turn the chicken pieces over, sprinkling
them once with salt. After 40 minutes add the breasts. Cook for about 10
minutes more, until the chicken is tender all the way trough and the meat
comes easily off the bone. You will no longer be able to recognize the cabbage
as such; it will have become a dark, supple sauce for the chicken. Transfer
the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
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