Unfortunately, I have no recollection of making this recipe. I know I made it because I wrote it down, along with the title and page number of the book it appeared in, in my notes. And TF says she thinks it sounds familiar. But I don't remember it at all!

I suspect that I probably swapped out the fresh wax (yellow) beans for frozen green beans because I often have the later on hand and never the former. But I can't say for sure. It's possible that I went out and got some fresh yellow beans especially for this recipe. But I doubt it.

I may have even swapped out the cherry tomatoes for tinned diced tomatoes. But, again, I can't say for sure. But it's the kind of thing that I could see myself doing for a recipe like this. Especially if I was in a bind over what to have for dinner and trying to cobble something together last-minute.

One change that I'm almost certain I would have made is to the chicken. Recipe as written, it calls for chicken thighs and drumsticks. I suspect that I probably just got a whole chicken and broke it down (breasts, wings, durmsticks, thighs) and used that rather than going for the all dark meat approach. I've written up the recipe to reflect this change, but left everything else as it was in the original recipe since I can't remember exactly what I did. Possibly not the most accurate accont. But, since it wasn't a stand-out in my mind anyway, I doubt we'll be revisiting it, so the details become far less important at that point.

Braised Chicken with Wax Beans and Tomatoes

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil¹
• 1 whole chicken (~1kg), broken down into pieces (legs, thighs, breasts, wings)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 c. dry white wine
• 3 c. chicken stock
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme²
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard³
• 1 c. cherry tomatoes
• 125g yellow wax beans
• 90g arugula (rocket/roquette)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Warm oil over medium-high heat.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
4. Sear chicken, turning as needed and working in batches if necessary, until golden-brown (8-10 minutes). Set aside.
5. Add onion, carrot, and garlic to the pot, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and sauté until softened (~5 minutes).
6. Add wine, bring to a simmer, and cook until reduced by half (~5 minutes).
7. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
8. Return chicken to pot and add thyme.
9. Cover, transfer to oven, and braise at 180°C (350°F) until chicken is cooked through (50-60 minutes).
10. Transfer chicken to a plate.
11. Strain the braising liquid and return to pot.
12. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half (8-10 minutes).
13. Reduce heat to medium, stir in cream and mustard, and cook until thickened slightly (~5 minutes).
14. Adjust seasoning to taste.
15. Return chicken to pot, cover, and cook for another 15 minutes.
16. Add tomatoes and beans and cook, covered, until softened (~5 minutes).
17. Uncover, stir in the arugula, and cook until wilted (1-2 minutes).

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¹ I know I said that I was going to leave everything but the chicken the same, but I realized that this was one other area where I also almost certainly made some adjustments. The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. of oil. But it also calls for skin-on chicken. And I always find that a lot of fat renders out of the skin. So I would be reluctant to add that much oil to the pan unless I was going to use skinless chicken pieces. Honestly, with skin-on chicken, I'm not sure you really need any added fat at all! But I decided to write it up with half the amount since, as noted, I can't remember exactly what I did for this. ^Back
2 I basically never have fresh thyme on hand and I doubt that I would have gone out and gotten any for this. I suspect that I substituted dried thyme. I would guess ~1 tsp. or so. But, as with the other details, I can't say for sure. (This is why it's important to write up your notes promptly! Oh well...) ^Back
3 I definitely would have used Roman mustard for this. I'm just not sure how much. Sometimes I cut back on the quantity called for somewhat because the Roman mustard is so strong. I probably would have started with ~2 Tbsp. and adjusted from there. ^Back