12 Recipes of Christmas: Chicken Braised with Pears and Rosemary

Sweeten your chicken with pears and rosemary

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree… and Cook Local gives you Chicken braised with Pears and Rosemary.

Finally. The last day of this infernal song. The final day of foul. We’re done with the chicken. We’re actually having turkey for Christmas Dinner, but if I never see poultry again… well, all right. I’m sure I’ll want chicken again in a week or so, especially since I have a Stokesberry Farms chicken in the freezer right now. But after the past few weeks, I’m ready for some porky or beefy goodness. Mmmmm. Guanciale. Pancetta. Olsen Farms filet. Must stop now, mouth watering.

Today’s recipe is one that’s been a favorite of mine for quite some time. It comes from Molly Stevens‘ cookbook, All About Braising. Winter is absolutely the time for braising. It is cold outside and cooking a Dutch Oven full of goodness for three or four hours is the perfect way to warm the house and fill it with delicious smells of the season.  You’ll need to set aside a good chunk of time for this dish -almost 3 hours from start to finish, but a lot of that time isn’t active. This is a great recipe for a lazy Sunday afternoon or even a holiday (like New Year’s) where you’re spending most of the day relaxing with family and watching football.

Chicken Braised with Pears and Rosemary adapted from All About Braising

Whole chicken braised with pears and rosemary

• 3-4 pound whole chicken
• Salt and pepper
• 3 pears
• 4 Tbsp butter (divided)
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large leek
• 2 shallots
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

First, prepare the chicken.

1. Preheat the oven to 300.
2. Rinse the chicken (inside and out) and pat it dry. Remove any large chunks of fat around the neck.
3. Remove the last two joints of each wing. I did this by cracking the joint and then using very strong kitchen scissors.
4. Season both the inside and outside of the chicken with salt and pepper.
5. Quarter the pear and stuff it inside the chicken cavity. The easiest way to do this is by putting two quarters in stem side first and two quarters blossom side first.
6. Truss the chicken with kitchen string. Bind the drumsticks close to the body and then wrap the string back around the chicken’s body and tie it behind the neck.

Brown the chicken

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil and 2 Tbsp of butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. The butter will foam and then settle down.
2. Pat the chicken dry again and lay it breast side down in the hot pan. Brown the chicken for at least 3-4 minutes and then gently lift it up with wooden spoons to see if it’s browned. If not, let it go another few minutes. You’ll want to carefully turn the chicken so that it browns on all sides. This can be tricky. Using two wooden spoons can be helpful here. Just go slowly and carefully.
3. Once the chicken is completely browned, remove it carefully to a plate.
4. Add any chicken pieces (such as gizzards, heart, neck, and those wing tips you cut off) to the pan and saute them until browned, about 7-10 minutes. Remove those to the plate as well.
5. Drain the pan of all fat. Don’t scrape it though, you want to leave all those caramelized bits.
6. Turn the heat to medium and add a tablespoon of butter. Now add the leek, shallots, and rosemary sprig, along with some salt and pepper.
7. Cook for about 7-10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
8. Add the wine, turn the heat up to medium-high, and boil for 2 minutes.
9. Add the stock and vinegar and boil for an additional 2 minutes.

Braise the chicken

1. Carefully lay the chicken on top of the veggies. Tuck the chicken parts in with the vegetables and cover the dish with parchment paper.
2. Cover and slide into the oven.
3. Baste every 20 minutes for about an hour and 20 minutes or until the chicken registers 170 between the breast and thigh on a thermometer.

Moist chicken with sweet and tangy pears

About 10 minutes before you take the chicken out of the oven…

1. Peel the last two pears, core them, and slice them into 1/2 inch thick slices. Mince the rosemary and set aside.
2. Heat 2 Tbsp of butter over high heat in a large, nonstick skillet – the largest skillet you have.
3. Once the butter stops foaming, add the pears and toss to coat.
4. Add the sugar, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
5. Cook, stirring and turning the pears frequently, until the pears have started to caramelize.
6. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another 30 seconds. The balsamic vinegar will form a glaze that will very quickly thicken.
7. Pull the chicken out of the oven. Using those same wooden spoons (or a meat fork), tip the chicken so any juices inside the cavity run into the Dutch Oven.
8. Set the chicken on a cutting board and cover with foil for a few minutes.
9. Strain most of the vegetables and other chicken parts (wings, heart, etc) out of the pan, keeping all of the juices.
10. Boil the juices over high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, to thicken.

Serving

1. Carve the chicken.
2. Top with pears and balsamic glaze, and then spoon some of the pan finished juices over the whole thing.

Pieces and Parts Ready for Deliciousness

Notes: This dish was absolutely amazing. Next time I make this recipe (or heck, any time I have extra pears), I’m going to make the glazed pears as a topping for ice cream. They were fantastic. The rosemary helps cut the sweetness of the sugar and balsamic vinegar and cooking them for just a few minutes left just a bit of crunch to the slices. The chicken was cooked perfectly. The white meat (breasts) sit on top of the braising liquid. So they cook slower than the dark meat which sits IN the liquid. Molly Stevens is truly a genius. This dish takes some work, what with the basting and the browning of the chicken, but it is well worth it.

Bonus! Use the chicken bones to make homemade chicken stock. Making stock is super easy. Just take a whole chicken carcass, add some minced onions, leeks, shallots, and garlic, and add lots and lots of water.  Boil for about 2 hours, skimming foam off the top when it occurs. Cool, strain, and freeze. If you want a low fat version, strain the stock into jars and refrigerate overnight. The fat will float to the top where it solidifies and you can spoon it off before freezing. Low fat even! I rarely add salt to my homemade stock so I end up with low fat, low sodium chicken stock that’s so much better than what I can buy in the store. Stock keeps for about 2 weeks in the fridge and months in the freezer.