Cinnamon Stewed Chicken

Last night I made Cat Cora's Greek Cinnamon Stewed Chicken for the first time. There is no photo because it's basically a red sauce dish and all the photo's I took looked like something was massacred on my plate. If you want a visually pleasing picture of this meal please feel free to click on the link above.

This dish was a nice alternative to all the other chicken dishes I've been making lately. After a while doesn't everyone get sick of the chicken dishes in their repertoire? The smell of carmelized tomato paste and onion mixed with the spice of the cinnamon are still lingering in the house this morning. It's not a smell I'm used to, and I'm still undecided if I think it is a pleasing smell. Mrblocko thought it smelled delicious though. He didn't get home in time for dinner last night, so I'll have to wait until after he has some for lunch today to find out if he thought it tasted as good as it smelled.

I still don't know if this is something I would make again. I'll have to see how it fares as leftovers. That will be the deciding factor if this dish gets put into the recipe rotation. Blockette liked it well enough. She gobbled up her portion. I think that had more to do with the fact I told her she could have M&M's for dessert if she ate her dinner like a big girl. She did like the rice shaped orzo, and there were no complaints from her that I over cooked it.

No recipe entry would be complete if I didn't write up the changes I made. I didn't want to use bone in chicken, so I just used chicken breast. I know the recipe calls for a 2.5-3 lb chicken, but I didn't want a mess of leftovers, so I only used 4 breasts. I used half a vidalia and half a plain white onion instead of a whole yellow onion. I wanted to use the partial bits of onion before they stunk up the whole fridge. I think they added another dimention of sweetness to the dish that went nicely with the spice of the cinnamon. I didn't have Italian spice blend so I used equal parts of basil, thyme, oregano and sage to make up the required 1 T. Because I used boneless chicken I only let everything stew for 20 min. The sauce got really thick and started thinking about sticking to the pan. I think if I had left it for the full 30-40 min it would have burnt.

CAT CORA'S GREEK CINNAMON STEWED CHICKEN from Bunny's Warm Oven
1 (2 1/2-3 lb.) chicken, cut into 8 pieces (legs, breast and thighs)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 c. water, divided
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 Tbsp. dried Italian herb seasoning
1 c. orzo, cooked according to package directions
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. A wet chicken will cause the oil to splatter while the chicken is sauteing. Mix the cinnamon, salt and pepper in a small bowl; rub the chicken pieces on all sides with the seasoning. Heat the olive oil in a large, nonreactive, deep skillet over high heat. If you don't have a skillet large enough, brown them in 2 batches using half the oil for each batch. What's important is that the chicken isn't overcrowded, which would cause them to steam rather than brown. Add the chicken to the oil and brown for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Turn the pieces using a metal spatula, as they have a tendency to stick to the pan. Remove the pieces when they are well browned on all sides.

Mince 3 of the garlic cloves. Lower the heat to med-high and add onions and minced garlic. Cook for 3 min, stirring constantly, til onions softened and are a rich golden brown. Add 1/2 c water and scrape bottom of the pan with the spatula or a spoon deglaze the pan, loosening any particles stuck on the bottom.When water has evaporated, add the remaining 1 1/2 c water, tomato paste, Italian seasoning and remaining 2 garlic cloves, minced.

Return chicken to the pan. The liquid should cover about 3/4 chicken pieces. Cover pot and simmer over med-high heat  30-40 min til chicken tender and thoroughly cooked. If sauce becomes too thick, it can be thinned with a little more water. Season the finished sauce with kosher salt and pepper to taste.