Chicken With Caramelised Baby Onions And Pears

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 4 small firm beurre bosc pears or 2 large firm beurre bosc pears, unpeeled, quartered and cored
• 40 g unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 500 g shallots or 500 g baby onions
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 large chicken, jointed
• sea salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• good pinch saffron thread
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 -2 tablespoon clear honey
• 100 g blanched almonds (optional)

Recipe

• 1 melt the butter in a non-stick pan over a medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil and sauté the pear quarters until they are lightly coloured, then set aside.
• 2 blanch the eschalots or baby onions in boiling water for 5 minutes, and drain. when they are cool enough to handle, peel the eschalots and trim the root ends.
• 3 sauté the eschallots in a little sunflower oil, in a non-stick pan (you can use the same pan as you used to sauté the pears) over a medium heat, shaking the pan and turning the eschalots until they are browned and caramelized on all sides.
• 4 remove the eschalots from the pan and drain them on paper kitchen towelling.
• 5 add 3-4 tablespoons of oil to a casserole pot large enough to include the chicken pieces, pears and eschalots, and sauté the chopped onion over a medium heat until it begins to soften; then add the chicken pieces and lightly brown them on all sides. season to taste.
• 6 add 1 cup of water, and stir in the saffron threads, ginger and cinnamon, and cook, covered, over a low heat, turning the pieces over several times, for 10-15 minutes or until the breasts are cooked.
• 7 remove the breasts, set aside and keep warm.
• 8 add the caramelised eschalots to the pot.
• 9 if the pear quarters are still firm (see also step 14), add them to the pot now and continue to cook, covered, over a low heat, for 25 minutes or until the remaining chicken pieces are very tender, turning occasionally, and adding a little more water if it is needed.
• 10 lift the chicken pieces out, set aside with the breasts, and keep warm.
• 11 stir the honey into the pot and check the seasoning. you will need quite a bit of pepper to balance the sweetness.
• 12 cook uncovered to reduce the sauce if necessary, until the sauce has the consistency of thick jam.
• 13 return all the chicken pieces to the pot and heat through.
• 14 if the pears were soft enough after they were sautéed, add them at this point. a few minutes heating should be enough.
• 15 if you are serving this dish with blanched almonds, lightly toast the almonds under the grill or dry sauté them in a non-stick pan (or you can add a drop of oil).
• 16 serve over rice, noodles or couscous.