. It's from Cat Cora & is apparently an adaptation of a Greek dish called Kota Kapama (Peter you'll have to let me know how Greek it seems to you).
I wanted to make this dish because of the cinnamon in it since I loved the cinnamon with chicken in the Phyllo Rolls last week. I have to say Matt really doubted this recipe when I read the description of it to him while making the weekly menu. I thought it sounded good but as it was cooking I too started to wonder how the cinnamon would go with the tomato sauce. Well, neither of us had any reason to doubt. This was a wonderful comforting dish. The taste is just as good as the smell it fills the house with while cooking. The chicken gets quite tender from stewing in the tomato paste.
We did adapt the recipe a little bit. It originally called for a full chicken cut up & stewed. Since it was being served over egg noodles I thought boneless chicken cut into pieces would be a little easier to eat. We also added spinach at the end of cooking as a way to get a green vegetable into the dish. The spinach was a perfect addition & I'll add it when I make this again in the future.
Chicken Stewed in Wine, Garlic & Cinnamon
adapted from a Cat Cora recipe in Soup's On!: 75 Soul-Satisfying Recipes from Your Favorite Chefs
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 t salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t pepper
3 garlic cloves, 2 minced & one peeled & left whole
1 T olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 c dry white wine (I think you could substitute chicken broth if you didn't want to use wine)
1 c water
3 oz tomato paste
2 c spinach leaves, roughly torn
1/2 c grated Romano cheese
Mix the salt, cinnamon & pepper together. Rub the mixture on the chicken pieces to completely coat them.
Heat the oil olive in a large, skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the chicken & cook until it is no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the skillet & set aside.
Add the onion & minced garlic to the skillet. Cook until the onions are soft & beginning to brown. Add the wine & scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Let the wine cook until it is evaporated. Add the water, tomato paste, whole garlic clove & chicken to the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover & let simmer for about 20 - 30 minute, until chicken is tender. Add salt & pepper if needed. Mix spinach leaves in & cook until wilted.
Serve over egg noodles & top with grated cheese
Serves 2
Kat, this looks easy and good.
ReplyDeleteI will make this for a wknt. dinner.
I like the addition of spinach for color and texture.
My grandmother always put a cinnamon stick in her tomato sauce for her stuffed cabbage. I loved it!
Stacey
I love your addition of spinach -this sounds warm and delicious!
ReplyDeleteThis looks wonderful, especially with the weather cooling off around here. I think I'd go for boneless, too, just for ease in serving. And spinach just looks like it belongs in there!
ReplyDeleteIve bokmarked this one. The chicken - cinnamon combo is one Ive got to try
ReplyDeleteI've made a few chicken dishes with cinnamon and they were phenomenal. It's such a good flavor combination. I'm bookmarking this one to make soon!
ReplyDeleteSounds good! My husband always puts a cinnamon stick in meat stews (especially venison) and I love the flavour.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the Hungarian Kaprikash; the cinnamon replaced the paprika. But it's all Greek to me. Orthography included.
ReplyDeletecould it be that cinnamon is the most perfect ingredient? it would get my vote. :)
ReplyDeleteJust found you from Crepesofwrath and this sounds so yummy. I simply love cinnamon! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete