Crowd-pleasing poulet basquaise

I love making stews when we have friends over because it allows me to prepare everything in advance and spend most of my time with the guests instead of slaving in the kitchen. Unfortunately, only a few can truly be appreciated in warmer Dubai weather – and Poulet Basquaise is one of them. It originates from the Southwestern region of France, the home of bull running, cured ham, bell peppers and a beautiful chilli pepper called “Piment d’Espelette”. The latter two are key ingredients in this dish and give it a wonderful aroma and color.

If you don’t have Piment d’Espelette on hand, don’t fret – although a local Basque may cringe at the thought of this – you can use another chilli pepper like unsmoked hot paprika or Aleppo pepper. Other point: I cannot deal with chicken skin, so take it off, but in the traditional recipe, you leave the skin on. Both work well and are delightful served on a generous bed of rice.

Ingredients

• 2 large onions, cut into thin strips lengthwise
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
•  3 red and 1 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips, lengthwise
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 kg chicken – I use a mix of drumsticks and thighs, bone on and skin off
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup organic chicken stock (or filtered water)
• 1 x 400 g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup of chorizo, chopped
• 2 tsp piment esepelette
• 2 tsp salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. In a large pan or casserole, heat 3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat and add onions. Toss for 5 minutes or until translucent.
2. Mix in garlic and red peppers. Let cook and toss regularly for about 10 minutes or until cooked and water evaporated. Place the mixture in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. On the same pan, add 2 tbsp olive oil and on high heat, add the chicken and brown the pieces well
4. Add in the piment d’espelette and deglaze with wine scraping all the caramelised and dark bits at the bottom
5. Let simmer on medium heat for around 5 minutes. Add the pepper onion mixture, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, chorizo, salt, some freshly ground pepper, and bay leaf to the pan, bringing it to a light boil on high heat for a few minutes. Then lower heat and simmer for another 35-45 minutes or until chicken is done. Taste and adjust salt and pepper seasoning. You can reduce or increase the simmering time depending on the amount of liquid you like. I usually aim at reducing it by half.
6. Serve on a bed of steamed rice and sprinkle with chopped parsley.