Chicken Ragout with Potatoes & Olives - Tasty Chicken Heaven

January 4, 2006 in In my Kitchen by Rebecca | No comments

When I made this I thought, "they will hate it". I have no idea why I thought that, I think it was the odd mixture of onions, garlic and olives and how those simply do not mix with children. Then, as I was making this dish, and the wonderful aromas were wafting from my kitchen kingdom through the rest of our house, I heard the peep every chef loves to hear, "hey what’s that smell, it smells sooo good". Well, my confidence shored up, I drove ahead in making this dish. The recipe is courtesy of "Make it in Minutes" a Weight Watchers cookbook (you can check out the cookbook at this link here). A ragout, for your general cooking trivia knowledge, is French for "A well-seasoned meat or fish stew, usually with vegetables". This one uses chicken and it is heavenly (especially on a cold night).

Click on for the fabulous taste treat!

What you’ll need
1 teaspoon olive oil
1.5 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs trimmed of all visible fat (you could also use skinless chicken breasts)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 onion thinly sliced (depending on the pallet of your audience, 1/2 onion works well too)
1 garlic clove, chopped (I love garlic and used three cloves, quite yummy for garlic lovers - and my kids were ok too)
3 plum tomatoes chopped (I used 4 large regular tomaotes, it was just fine)
1 large baking potato, peeled and cubed (Idaho, Irish, or Maine potatoes all work fine :) use others as you see fit!)
10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped (don’t use green olives, trust me on this).
1/2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine (or 1 bottle dry white wine - drink the bottle & save 1/4 cup for the meal ).
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

What to do
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprikle the chicken with the salt and pepper and saute until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic; cook until the onion is just tender, about 5 minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes, potato, olives, broth, and wine. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the potato tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil.