Frango na Pucara - Portuguese Chicken with Wine Sauce
After you try this dish, you'll never accuse chicken of being boring again. Perfect served with roasted potatoes or rice, by the time it's ready, the delicious cooking smells are sure to have you anxious to dig in.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (about 2 lbs)
- 150 grams presunto, cubed
- 4 large ripe tomatoes (skinned and seeded)
- 10-12 shallots
- 70 grams of butter in pieces
- olive oil
- 2 tbl dijon mustard
- 4 cloves garlic (bruised)
- 100ml port
- 100ml brandy
- 150ml white wine
- 4 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- paprika (optional)
- 4 tbl fresh parsley
Instructions
- Begin by dividing the chicken into 8 pieces and preheating the oven to 430F.
- Heat a little olive oil and brown the chicken on both sides until crisp.
- In the mean time, chop up the tomatoes, shallots and butter.
- Place the tomatoes in the bottom of a dutch oven or lidded earthenware dish, followed by half of the shallots, half of the presunto, bruised garlic and bay leafs.
- In a separate bowl, mix the dijon, port, brandy, white wine, and parsley and season with salt, pepper and paprika to taste.
- Once the chicken is seared, place the pieces in a single layer in your dish, followed by the butter and the remaining shallots and presunto.
- Pour the liquid mixture over everything, cover and place in the oven for 90 minutes, at which point the chicken should be cooked through.
- Remove the lid from the dish and cook for another 15-30 minutes until the chicken skin is browned and the top layer of onions crisp.
- Serve family style from the dish in which everything was cooked.
Notes
If tomatoes are not in season, it is best to use quality canned tomatoes.