Keeping warm and well fed: fricasee of chicken in red cabbage sauce

Ciao ragazzi, Annalena returns.  This time, the delay in writing was very simply because Annalena was cooking favorites that you've all read about already before.  Last week was a week with the roast pork and fennel,   skate wing,  our weekly roast chicken, and a white bean soup with roasted vegetables.  You can find all of those on the blog already, so why repeat oneself more than one already does?

It is cold here in NY:  VERY cold.  All talk of polar vortices aside, it is still VERY FREAKING COLD.  Annalena's vendors did not come to market:  their produce would freeze, and the waters are too cold for fishing.  So, she ventured forth to Whole Foods , which is what she does this time of year, and came back with some ingredients to make a dish that sounds odd, but ultimately, tastes lovely.

Annalena found this recipe in her Marcella Hazan collection.  Now, before you start getting on your high, or not so high horse, and start chanting "red cabbage is not Italian," look at your maps ragazzi.  See how Italy borders German speaking Austria?  And shall we speak of the Alto Adige, where Italians with names like Brugemann come from?  In fact, the Adige had a plebecite last week and called for secession from Italy and reunification with Austria.  It is NOT going to happen, but politics are not our concern here.  Cooking is. So we are going to make a dish that feels much more German than Italian, but rest assured:  if Marcella made it, it's Italian.

It is an exercise in patience, ragazzi. Not "difficult" patience, but this is a dish which takes on the order of an  hour and a half to make.  Your work time is all of about 15 minutes, but it takes time for the "sauce" to develop.  So, get yourself a good book, and get ready to make a delicious, unusual dish.

Here are your ingredients:  2 pounds of red cabbage, a large onion, 4 garlic cloves, olive oil, salt, a half cup of red wine, and 3 pounds of chicken. Annalena used whole legs, because this eliminates the problem of overcooked breasts.  If you do want to use breasts here, note the change that Annalena discusses, courtesy of Chef Hazan.  You want the chicken on the bone, with skin here.

We start by making our sauce.  Slice the onion thinly, until you have a healthy cup - bordering on a cup and a half.  Then you want to slice four cloves of garlic into thin slivers.  Finally, shred the cabbage into fine pieces, as if you were making red coleslaw.  As almost always, there is no need to be surgically precise here.

Get a quarter cup of olive oil in a big saute' pan, and add all your ingredients.  Toss them in the oil, turn the heat to medium, and add a modicum of salt (you have to judge this yourself, ragazzi:  more salt for the salt lovers, less for those who don't.    When the mix begins to sizzle, turn your heat to low, cover the pan, and let this cook for 40-45 minutes.  Every ten minutes or so,  stir the mix.

Now, IF you have room on  your stove (and many of us do not), you can then proceed with the chicken.  As noted, you need three pounds.  For Annalena, this was four, large legs.  The amount is approximate, as you can go to four pounds, and you may very well have that, if you buy a cut up chicken, or cut one up yourself.    Salt the bird, and pat it very, VERY dry. Annalena cannot stress this enough.

When you have room on your stove, put a tablespoon of olive oil in another big pan, and when it's warm, add the chicken pieces.  The leg pieces especially will give off fat - lots of it.  Cook them until they brown well, skin side down. This could take anywhere from five to ten minutes.  Then turn them over and do the same.

Ok, now let's eliminate the pan in which you cooked the chicken, and let's put the chicken into the cabbage, which will have reduced to this soft mass.  Do not put the breasts in yet if you are using them.  Toss the chicken in the cabbage sauce, and add half a cup of red wine.  Put the thing on a low flame, cover it, and let it cook for 30 minutes or so.  Again, as you think about it, turn the chicken in the cabbage.  After thirty minutes, add the breast pieces, and cook the whole thing for another 10-15 minutes.

You've cooked cabbage for about an hour and a half and you know what?  You won't have burned it, it will not have turned to an ugly, grey green mess, your home will not stink of cabbage.  What you will have is a glistening dish that begs for polenta to serve with it.    And you will be feeling "cabbage and chicken.  What a GREAT idea."

So, go forth ragazzi. Annalena is using her new pressure cooker today for the first time.  So far, the house has not exploded, but the day is young