My recipe is as follows:
- 8-10 chicken legs (or thighs, just make sure that whatever you use has the bones in it, as it lends flavor to the meat)
- 1 small can of sliced black olives
- a few tablespoons of capers
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (I like the no-salt-added tomatoes)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chicken broth (again, I like low- or no-sodium)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup (ish) diced onion
- 2-3 cloves garlic, diced
- oregano, basil, black pepper, all to taste
(Disclaimer: I never measure amounts of anything while I cook, so these are just ballpark numbers. Use more or less as you taste and make this recipe your own!)
Before I start actually cooking anything, I remove the skin off my chicken. This is a personal preference. Chicken tends to brown more nicely with the skin on, but I just really dislike the texture and the fact that it's terrible for you. I have made this recipe with the skin both on and off, and it turned out fantastically either way!
Heat up your olive oil in a heavy, lidded pan. This will be the pot that you eventually stick in your Wonderbag, so make sure it's big enough to hold everything! I usually use a 3- or 4-quart stew pot. Once the oil is hot, add your diced onions and garlic. Sauté them for a few minutes until they are just beginning to brown.
Add your drumsticks to the oil-garlic-onion mess that is making your kitchen smell like an Italian restaurant. Rotate them so that they brown evenly on all sides and add oregano, basil, and black pepper to taste. You can also add any other spices that you feel would add to the dish. Sometimes I throw in some rosemary and thyme. Your call.
Once the chicken is browned and crunchy-looking on all sides, add everything else. Dump in the two cans of tomatoes, the black olives (be sure to drain the water out of them first), the capers, and the chicken broth until the whole mixture has the consistency of thick stew. It should look like this:
The chicken with tomatoes, olives, capers, spices, and broth.
Now let the mess boil for 15 minutes. After that's done, turn off the heat and put the lidded pot inside your Wonderbag and cinch the bag shut tightly.
Now all that's left to do is wait. Since the whole preparation process only takes about 15-20 minutes, I normally make this before work and leave it in my Wonderbag for 8-10 hours before eating it for dinner. I'd recommend leaving it in there for at least 2 hours, but at 8-10 hours the chicken literally falls off the bone. Yum.
At this point, I should probably add that recipe can easily be duplicated in a crock pot/slow cooker, aside from browning the chicken. If you're Wonderbag-less, feel free to complete the recipe in a pot on the stove and then transfer the stew-mess into a crock pot to cook while you're at work/the gym/where ever. It turns out the same way--the important thing is to keep cooking it on low heat for a long time to get that delicious fall-off-the-bone meat infused with all the Mediterranean flavors.
When you're finally ready to eat this delicious concoction (I mean, you were ready when you started 8 hours ago, but now it's finally time), I normally cook up some cous-cous to serve it over. Trader Joe's whole wheat cous-cous is my personal choice, but really anything should do. (Serving it over barley, rice, or pasta is also great, depending on your preference.) I like serving everything in a bowl, with the chicken served over a bed of cous-cous, and topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Voilá! Here's the finished dish:
Chicken over cous-cous with parmesan cheese.
To really enhance the flavors, I'd pair this dish with a nice Pinot Noir to balance the saltiness (thanks, capers) or a jammy red-fruit Merlot to offset the heavy tomato. If white wine is more your style, I'd stick with a heavily oaked Chardonnay, and go no lighter than that. However, wine is delicious, and this dish is delicious, so if none of these suggestions match your palette, go with your favorite and see what happens. You're bound to have a great meal no matter what.
Enjoy!
