I got the idea for this dish from the Moro cookbook: I had some cotognata [quince paste] I wanted to use up and the book has an interesting recipe that uses this product in a sauce for roast duck. I didn't see why it shouldn't work with chicken.
Italians, it must be said, do not go in for sweet and sour combinations very much, except as a flavouring for onions and in coniglio in algrodolce [sweet and sour rabbit] and the authors of Moro caution: "... although sweet / savoury dishes can be sublime, it is a difficult balance to achieve."
Well, I am nothing if not intrepid in the kitchen and, not wanting to roast a whole chicken, I more or less followed the Moro recipe for chicken joints cooked with bay leaves, garlic and white wine. I added a couple of shallots and used only the cloves from 1 bulb of garlic rather than 2, and added the chopped quince paste with the wine at the end. Then, deciding that the dish needed one more ingredient, I added some sliced, juicy Sicilian pears. I wasn't sure if the sweet quince paste would combine well with the garlic, but needn't have worried. It was delicious!
If you are in the UK and wish to make this dish, where are you going to get your quince paste from? The type sold in some delicatessens is not hard like the sun-baked product available here but it might just do in this recipe. Otherwise, you will have to go and see Chiara!
15 comments:
Now this looks delicious! What a good job me evening meal is just about ready now ;-)
I've seen you mention quince paste before but I really don't know what exactly it is. I looked at the photos of Chiara's but still am in the dark. The chicken sure looks good, though. :D
Thanks, Cherrypie. Hi, Leslie.. It's a very thick mixture of quince and sugar, prepared much as jam only the texture is more dense - more like a "fruit cheese", then , here, left to completely dry out in the sun.
If I lived across the hall from you, I'd be thinking about how I could get invited to dinner!!
I keep seeing quince paste at my Italian grocer and never knew what I would do with it aside from serving with cheese. This is great :)
It sounds divine - and thanks for the recipe, I will give this one a go for the next girls night :-)
Hi, TF. I'm the only one on this landing! Hi, maryann. You can also spread it on griddled panettone for breakfast! Hope you enjoy it, mg.
I hate sweet and sour, too. Especially that dreadful industrial fluorescent "Chinese" sauce that tastes of boiled sweets... or anything I've tried from supermarket (I nearly said "hospital" there: a Freudian slip... tastes like it'll PUT you in hospital..) ready-jarred sauce. (Jarred would be the operative word they certainly jar the palate...)
That chicken looks lovely.
Have you heard of Delia Smith's latest cookery book? Or did I tell you? (Probably! Sorry.) "How to cheat at cookery." E.g. "shepherd's pie: buy a frozen shepherd's pie and a bunch of fresh parsley. Bake pie, serve with sprig of parsley atop. Woo! It looks just like the serving suggestion!"... is pretty much how it goes. Pathetic.
... though I was once told my cooking "looks like a serving suggestion" (what better compliment can you get? haha!)
Hey I nosily clicked your sitemeter you are more than twice as popular as me ~ wahey!!
Have a cheery week
G
xx
I more or less followed the Moro recipe for chicken joints
A woman after my own heart for I am one who more or less follows any recipe. I also like the fact you had this one small ingredient to use up and had to find a dish to use it in.
ps do they have blackberry crumble in Sicily?
Oh imagine having dinner at your house, mmm, looks very nice :mwwjnt-)
Ciao, Gleds. Well, you did sort of mention that. But I'm glad you did again! The blessed Delia gets on my nerves in her current incarnation. Your blog is an inspiration, dear Gleds.
Ciao,jmb. What fun we would have in the kitchen if you would come and visit, now!
Gleds, there are blackberries but no one has ever heard of crumble!
Thanks, Nunyaa!
no crumble? what cultural poverty!!
I will have to educate them re crumble, Gleds!
Thanks, James.
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