WEEK 5 BODEINE BRAISING


Week
5
Braised Chicken Alfredo

Throw out everything you know about baking. Baking is below us. If you're with the times it's all about braising these days and that's exactly what we're here to do today. The Chicken Alfredo. Originally discovered by the fine Italian dining powerhouse by the name of Olive Garden, Chicken Alfredo has quickly made it's way to the pinnacle of the Italian food chain. Something I had been deprived of my entire life, as I found out this week, was the glory of braising. Let's see what's cookin this week. 
Food&Wine Magazine's Braised Chicken Thighs with Olives and Basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh-ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped
12 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/3 cup halved and pitted black olives
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Now in order to braise this dish I started with the pan heating the oil until it was good a hot. After seasoning the chicken with the salt and pepper it was time for it to heat. About 4 minutes on each side later, the onions and garlic were added to soften. Once soft, the wine and rosemary got thrown in and it was time for the flavors to bust down. 25 minutes later the chicken was braised so well that I legitimately heard Mario yell "MAMMAA MIIIIIAAAA" numerous times throughout the night. With so much put into the chicken, why stop with the sauce. Today's Alfredo sauce came from a mix of heavy whipping cream and shredded parmigiana cheese. That doesn't seem like the right spelling but I'll let it fly. With the main course ready, a solid salad with bread and cheese on the side completed what I can only describe as the most prolific Italian cuisine my hands have ever created. 

It should hopefully be evident that this meal absolutely kicked ass. While being far more work than I would typically put into a pasta, the extra time definitely paid off. That's not even to say that it really took that much longer it just requires so much work making the sauces from scratch and waiting for the braising to take place. What I can say is that braising seems to be a great technique for really introducing a lot of flavor into your food. I would love to revisit this technique again, but why not go double down and go all american barbecue. Something about some braised baby back ribs sounds like something I'm ready to let ruin my life. Anyways, I would like to actually have the fresh basil to put in next time but just squint a little bit and you can't tell it's missing. Thanks for stopping by, I'll report back with any Italian accent I pick up on throughout this week



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