A little Summer in a Winter Dish

I know peaches are summer fruit but my daughter begged me to buy bag of frozen ones for her, something I rarely purchase.  She does snack on them but that bag is not going anywhere soon so what else could they be used for, Hm....? I rooted through the freezer and found some chicken drumsticks. Then I went to the pantry and found half a bag of dried plums (ya, ya, we all know what they really are even a name change can't take away the stigma of being a prune)

I rooted around for more ingredients like red onion, bay leaves and some chicken stock. I was only using what I had on hand, just to be thrifty! 

I hate to throw away food so if I can freeze meat for use in soup stock later I will. Most foods loose integrity in the freezer but for soup I will take the chance.

We just love stewy saucy stuff in our house and it was cold and rainy so I created this dish.  It is simple but elegant and kid friendly.   This is so easy and really tasty, I tossed the chicken and peaches in frozen. The peaches give this just enough acid to balance the sweet dried plums, but you could add a drop of acid like lemon juice to take it up a level.  If you are trying to expand your child's taste buds stick with the recipe but if you are making this for grown ups add a dash of lemon or balsamic vinegar for a zing.

Sunshine Chicken

If your chicken is not frozen then cut cooking time to about 45 minutes.

6 frozen chicken legs

1 red onion, sliced into 1/2 inch moons

1/2 cup pitted prunes, halved

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup frozen peach halves 

4 garlic cloves, peeled whole

salt / pepper

1/2 cup water or vegetable stock

Preheat the oven to 300˚F.

Lay half of the onions in the bottom of a 4 quart dutch oven.

layer the ingredients in the pot salting and peppering as you go.

Pour liquid over the ingredients and cover.  Cook covered about 1 1/2 hours or until chicken falls off the bone. Uncover for the last fifteen minutes to brown the chicken.

Serve with rice.