I love chicken à la provençale (in the manner of Provence) with tomatoes, garlic and olives. It is a healthy and light way to cook chicken. It also makes for a very moist chicken, which is great because chicken has a tendency to get dry. I have a wonderful family recipe that is very easy to make, and generally, a crowd pleaser. Enjoy!
You will notice that the recipe includes a glass of white wine. However, you won’t be able to taste the wine once the dish is cooked, so any inexpensive white wine you find at your grocery store will do. They usually sell small bottles that are convenient for one recipe. You could also substitute with water if you do not want to use wine (but using wine is a better choice).
If you would like to make this dish into a special meal, then you could get a bottle of white wine for cooking AND drinking with your meal. In that case, choose a white wine from Provence as this will go best with the provençal style of cooking.
Now here is the recipe for the Provençal Chicken:
- 1 chicken (4 pieces)
- 2.6 ounces pitted black olives (75g)
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 glass white wine (see notes above)
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 leaves fresh basil
- Cut the tomatoes in 4, and the chicken in 4 pieces.
- In a skillet with olive oil, brown 4 pieces of chicken with minced garlic. Make sure you flip over the chicken, to brown both sides.
- Once both sides are brown, turn off the stove, take the skillet off the stove and add the glass of white wine. (Do not add the wine when the skillet is on the hot stove as doing so could cause a fire). Add the tomatoes, olives and basil. Cover with the skillet lid, and put the skillet back on the stove on low heat.
- Let it simmer in the covered skillet on low heat for 20–30 minutes (check to make sure the chicken is well cooked).
- Serve in a large serving dish. Enjoy it with rice or mashed potatoes on the side.
Bon Appétit!
French Mom