When I’m having friends over during the holiday period for dinner, I often opt to serve a baked casserole. It’s a dish that I can prepare at least partially in advance that also has seasonal flair given the time of year. Today’s recipe for cranberry maple chicken with balsamic and pecans is an example of that.
To make it, pieces of chicken are coated in cornstarch, seared in hot oil and set in two 13- x nine-inch casseroles. In a pot, you then make a braising mixture by sautéeing onions and then mixing in some ginger, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and white wine. When that mixture is boiling, it’s poured over the chicken.
The next step is to set cranberries and pecan halves around the chicken, and then sprinkle everything with a dusting of herbs de Provence.
The chicken is then covered and baked until tender, at which point it will have absorbed the flavours of the sweet- and sour-tasting braising mixture. The tangy cranberries, rich pecans and aromatic herbs will also have wonderfully enhanced it.
You need to make the recipe in two casserole dishes because it yields a generous eight (two-pieces of chicken each) servings. If that’s too many for you, though, you could easily half the recipe and bake it in only one casserole as noted in the Eric’s options part of the recipe. There you’ll find information on how to partially prepare the chicken in advance.
You could serve the chicken with rice pilaf or orzo and some simply prepared vegetables, such as steamed and buttered sticks of carrots and small broccoli florets.
Cranberry Maple Chicken with Balsamic and Pecans
Seared chicken set in two casseroles, topped with a sweet and sour braising mixture, accented with tart cranberries and rich pecans, covered and baked until deliciously tender.
Preparation time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: about 75 minutes
Makes: eight (2 pieces of chicken each) servings
1/2 cup cornstarch
8 chicken drumsticks
8 chicken thighs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil (divided)
2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine (see Eric’s options)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup pecan halves
1 tsp herbes de Provence (see Note)
• chopped fresh parsley, or small parsley sprigs, to taste
Set out two, 13- x 9-inch casserole dishes. Place the cornstarch in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the cornstarch and toss to coat.
Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil in each of two large skillets set over medium-high heat. Shake the excess cornstarch off the chicken and add it to the skillets in two batches. Brown each batch of chicken on all sides, and then divide it between the casserole dishes. (Each dish should have four browned thighs and four browned drumsticks in it; see Eric’s options).
Preheat oven to 375 F. To make the braising mixture, heat remaining 2 Tbsp oil in a medium pot set over medium, medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add the ginger, syrup, stock, wine and vinegar and bring to a boil. Now divide and spoon this mixture over the chicken in the casseroles. Spread out the onions so that some of them nestle in beside each piece of chicken. Also nestle the cranberries and pecans around the chicken. Sprinkle chicken with the herbes de Provence.
Cover each casserole with foil and bake 60 minutes, or until chicken is cooked and tender. Serve chicken right from the casseroles, sprinkled with chopped parsley, to taste. Or transfer the chicken to a large and decorative platter, garnish with small parsley sprigs, to taste, and serve it that way.
Note: Herbes de Provence, a French-style herb blend, is available in the herb/spice aisle of many grocery stores. If you can’t find it or wish to use dried herbs you already have on hand, use a one-teaspoon mix of them, combining ones you would find in herbes de Provence, such as thyme, marjoram, rosemary, savory, basil, oregano and/or tarragon.
Eric’s options: You can sear the chicken many hours in advance, set it in the casseroles, cool it, and then refrigerate it until ready to bake. You could also make the braising mixture in advance, cool it, and refrigerate it, too. When ready to bake the chicken, let it warm at room temperature 20 minutes, and then bring the braising mixture back to a boil. Now pour it over the chicken and top, cover and finish off the chicken as described in the recipe. If you can’t have wine, replace it with 1/2 cup more stock. If you’re only serving four people, this recipe could be halved and baked in only one 13- x 9-inch casserole dish.
Crust Cookbook delivers sweet and savoury baked goods
If someone on your Christmas gift list likes to bake, consider giving them Crust: Essential Sweets and Savouries from Victoria’s Beloved Bakery (Appetite by Random House, $37.50). This beautiful hardcover cookbook is by Tom Moore, co-owner of Victoria’s Crust Bakery (crustbakery.ca), with assistance from talented photographer Rebecca Wellman (rebeccawellman.ca).
The problem (not really!) I had when first going through the cookbook was trying to decide which of the 85-plus recipes to try first, they all sounded so tempting. On the sweet side, they include such sumptuous things as vanilla crème brulée tarts, pecan and dark chocolate chunk cookies, and pumpkin ginger teacake. On the savoury side are such things as cheesy herb and spinach buns, zucchini dill and feta quiche, and Reese’s chorizo biscuits. If you want to take a deep dive into baking, the book also offers information-rich chapters on baking ingredients, equipment and fundamentals. There’s also a chapter on trouble shooting, which provides explanations on why things could wrong with your baking and how to fix them.
The Crust cookbook is available at Victoria area bookstores, such as Bolen’s Books (bolenbooks.com), Munro’s (munrobooks.com), Ivy’s Bookshop (ivysbookshop.com) and Tanner’s Books (tannersbooks.com). But you might want to call ahead to reserve your copy. You can also buy it from national and online book retailers.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
