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poultry - chicken, Turkish, casserole, green beans,

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Chicken Casserole á la Turk

The Turkish cuisine inspired me with this Mediterranean dish that makes its own first course. You will need a large, lidded oven casserole for this or pot that is oven proof. The main dish of chicken and the delicious flavour of the browned onion, lemon and tangy tease of the yoghurt sauce is an experience soon repeated!

serves 2 well, 3 easily or 4 with another side dish

preheat oven to 220° C.

bake for ca. 1-1/2 hour at 180° C.

1/2 chicken

1 lg. onion

2 T. butter plus a little oil

2-3 garlic cloves

100 g. fresh butter beans (a handful)

250 g. broad green beans (about two good handfuls)

2-3 plum tomatoes

2 lg. potatoes

four slices of lemon (untreated)

100 ml. broth or water, eventually a little more

salt, pepper

sauce:

125 g. yoghurt

2 t. butter

½ sweet paprika

2 generous t. tomato paste

Remove visible fat from chicken. Rinse and pat dry while the 2 T. of butter with a little oil is melting (I use clarified butter). Using a heavy skillet, brown the chicken well while you slice the onion into half rings and slice the garlic. Rinse and cut the green beans into 5 cm. pieces (about in half). Remove the butter beans from their shell (or use frozen).

Remove the chicken and lay on paper towels to drain the fat while you lightly brown the onion. As soon as they begin to brown, add the garlic and sauté a few minutes more. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain on paper towels. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Slice the potatoes thickly (+ - 1 cm.) and arrange on the bottom of the casserole. Grate over a little pepper and a little salt. Place half of the onion over the potatoes then place the chicken on top. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthways, remove stem and arrange around the chicken.

Arrange the lemon slices on the chicken and cover them with the remaining onion. Grate over black pepper and a sprinkle of salt. Pour over the chicken broth (or other broth/water) cover and place in a hot oven for 30 minutes.

Add the green and butter beans around the chicken. Reduce heat to 180° C. and continue to bake for 45 min to 1 hour or until chicken is tender.

A few minutes before the end of baking time, prepare the sauce. Melt the remaining 2 t. of butter, add the paprika and allow to bubble without burning for about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste until smooth and cook for a few moments more. Add the yoghurt and a little salt if desired and allow to warm without bubbling to prevent separating. (You can use 1 t. butter but it is better to use the 2 t. and use low fat yogurt instead of full fat if you are concerned about calories.)

Place the chicken on a large oven platter, pour over the sauce and keep warm in the oven. For a first course, serve a little of the broth with the vegetables and slices of baguette. Add a little more broth if necessary if you prefer more broth in your soup plate.

Serve the chicken with the potato slices from the casserole and a mixed salad if desired.

(Cooks note: You can of course, add the vegetables at once with the chicken and leave it. However, the vegetables may be overdone to your taste. Adding them a little later insures that they will not be too soft. Also, if included, I make a broth from the chicken neck and giblets before I start this dish and use some of this for the liquid added. Reserve the rest for later use. Of course, a rice dish or pilaf served with the chicken using this broth is also very good.)

The key to this dish is the moist baking method and the sauce!

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