Roasted chicken with plums and pine nuts

I am one of those who thinks that the important thing is to celebrate all the important moments around the table and, of course, with a good meal. At home we love to cook, as you can guess and although we like traditions, we also like to vary the menus each year, be it Christmas, New Year's Eve, Kings,...

For now, on Christmas Eve we have dined lamb cooked at a low temperature and for New Year's Eve my star dish is this that I bring you today, a traditional and very festive dish from Catalan cuisine, a dish that is traditionally prepared there for Christmas but that is Ideal for any meal where you feel like showing off.

It is a roasted chicken, as they say around there, a chicken stew with plums and pine nuts that make it irresistible for any palate. Do you dare to try it? Do not lose the recipe.

Le Creuset low casserole pan and Le Creuset spoon spatula

Ingredients (4 - 6 people)

• 1 free-range chicken in eight pieces
• 1 liter of chicken broth
• 1 chopped onion
• 6 peeled shallots
• 15 pitted prunes
• 75g pine nuts
• 1 glass of brandy
• ½ head of garlic
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bouquet garni
• extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Elaboration

1. To begin with, in a saucepan we heat the brandy together with the prunes. Once it comes to a boil, remove from the heat and let stand covered.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown it in our low cocotte with the olive oil (it will be necessary to carry out this step in batches, in order to brown all the chicken pieces well). We booked.
3. If there is too much fat in the cocotte, remove some of it and add the chopped onion, shallots, half a head of garlic, the cinnamon stick and the bouquet garni. We fry for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
4. Strain the plums, reserve them and add the brandy to the sauce that we are making, it is important in this step to raise the heat. Reduce the liquid and add the chicken pieces. Add the chicken broth until covered and cook covered over medium heat for half an hour.
5. While the chicken is cooking in a pan , carefully brown the pine nuts. It's important to keep an eye on them as they burn very easily - if you lose sight of them and start to smell popcorn they are burning. Once golden, remove them from the pan and reserve.
6. After half an hour we remove the lid from our cocotte, raise the heat, add the prunes and cook for 10 more minutes, thus reducing the sauce.
7. Finally, once the 10 minutes have passed, we add the toasted pine nuts.
8. We serve hot. Oh, don't forget to sauce the roast once served! The best thing about these dishes is always the sauce!

Low casserole pan Le Creuset , spatula spoon Le Creuset and Pallarès carbon steel knife

These stews are ideal, tasty and everyone likes them. As with any good stew, in this case roasted, you cannot miss a good bread nearby to accompany it, but I can tell you that some vegetables and a delicious mashed potato is always a fantastic accompaniment.

Happy Holidays!