Recipe Notes: Chicken Vesuvio

14 October 2018

Recipe from September 2018 Cook's Illustrated

Chicken Vesuvio is a Chicago restaurant dish. The Cook's Illustrated article about this recipe is titled "One-Pan Chicken and Potatoes". The promise of a simple-to-make dish with chicken, potatoes, and a garlic, white wine pan sauce was very appealing and seemed worth trying. It got even more appealing when I found the Test Kitchen web site had a "for two" version of the dish which suited us much better than the original recipe that serves 4 to 6. 

Four bone-in chicken thighs were trimmed of excess skin and seasoned. Four Yukon Gold potatoes were cut in half and tossed with oil and salt. Oil was heated in a 12-inch skillet, the chicken was added skin side down and cooked briefly to render its fat. The potatoes were added cut side down, they just fit in the 12-inch skillet with the chicken. Dried oregano and thyme were added and cooking continued until the potatoes and chicken were deeply browned. Six halved garlic cloves were added and white wine was poured into the skillet. Cooking was then completed in the oven. To make the sauce, the chicken and potatoes were removed to a serving dish and the skillet was heated on the stove top, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. The halved garlic cloves were transferred to a cutting board, minced, and smeared then returned to the skillet. The sauce was reduced, lemon juice and fresh parsley were added, and it was poured onto the serving platter. The chicken thighs were not all the same size which may have affected the overall cooking time. The garlic was not done cooking when it was time to remove the chicken and potatoes, it did not smear into a smooth paste. The meal took 70 minutes to prepare.

This was a good meal and worth having again. The sauce was good, it had good acid producing a pleasing tang and good garlic flavor that was not overwhelming. The sauce did not taste bitter even though it was too dark because some of the chicken and potatoes burnt during browning. The potatoes could have cooked a little longer but the chicken was perhaps a little over done. Despite these issues it was still good. We got two meals out of this recipe and it was good as leftovers, too, just requiring warming in the microwave.