2/25/09

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.


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8 comments:

oneordinaryday said...

What an interesting combination of ingredients. I'm going to keep this dish in mind!
Michelle
http://oneordinaryday.wordpress.com/

barbra r said...

this sounds great! thanks! did the kid name it?

Anonymous said...

I made this last night and we all loved it! love the name too.

Anonymous said...

This looks delicious, and I am definitely going to make it. Were the chicken legs that you used skinless? Also, I assume it doesn't matter if the chicken is frozen or thawed, right?
Thanks1

Jennifer Carden said...

Thanks Liz....I used skin on you could do it with skinless too but they may dry out bit. If not using frozen just cut the cooking time by 30 minutes.

Jennifer Carden said...

Thanks Barb, No the kid did not name it, I came up with this name!!

Anonymous said...

Jennifer, thank you for leaving a comment on my blog about this recipe that I made of yours. It was so good and will be a mainstay in my meal repertoire. So, thank you! I will have to check out your book too, I haven't written a book yet :) Kyndale

Anonymous said...

Will be trying this recipe tonight for the kiddos. Thanks for the great info.