Braised
chicken
peaches
served with lemon rice
By Chef Reuben Riffel
Delicious with Creation Viognier
Ingredients
80 ml olive oil
4 free range chicken thighs and drumsticks
salt
pepper
5 garlic cloves
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric and chilli flakes
2 onions, diced
juice of 1 lemon
800 ml hot chicken stock
2 peaches cut into wedges
20 g butter
2 cinnamon quills
2 cardamom pods, bruised
2 fresh bay leaves
400 g (2 cups) long grain rice, rinsed
rind of 1 lemon
coriander
parsley
Method
Start with the chicken:
In a frying pan heat 20 ml oil over medium high heat.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
Seal the chicken until golden brown, set aside.
Next, using a food processor:
Add the garlic, ground cumin, coriander, turmeric and some
chilli flakes.
Add half the onion and process until finely chopped.
Remove and place in a bowl and set aside.
This process speeds things up. It allows for those flavours to
develop faster once it gets cooking; and of course we will end
up with a smooth sauce.
Heat 40 ml of oil in a casserole dish; add onion spice mixture
and sauté until fragrant.
Then add the lemon juice, 300 ml of chicken stock and lastly
the chicken.
Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, now stir,
combining the ingredients well.
Next, scatter peaches over and spoon a little cooking liquid
over to cover them.
Bring to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid; allow to cook
over medium heat for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the lid and cook over medium heat
until the chicken is cooked through and the peaches are tender
– for about 10-15 minutes.
Now, for the lemon rice:
Take a casserole and heat the remaining oil, butter, cinnamon
quills, bruised cardamom pods, bay leaves and remaining onion.
Stir over medium heat until starting to caramelise.
Next add rice and stir.
Add remaining stock and season to taste.
Bring to a gentle simmer, and cover the casserole.
Remove from the heat and bake in a preheated oven at 200° C
until the rice is cooked through which takes roughly 15
minutes.
When done remove from the oven and add the lemon rind, then
stir through.
To Serve
Serve the braised chicken and peaches with a bed of lemon rice
and scatterings of basil.
Video