A rustic Italian chicken stew, chicken gabriella is fancy enough to be served to guests, easy enough for a weeknight meal.
I fell in love with this recipe when I first saw it on Epicurious. Not only did it look delicious, but it was quick and easy too.
The original seemed to have too much rosemary for my taste so I cut that in half. Also cut the sage to 3 large leaves. To me, it’s better to have a whisper of flavor rather than it be overpowering and rosemary and sage are not only overpowering herbs, but too much tastes medicinal and to me, ruins the flavor.
Cutting down on the herbs was the correct choice, at least for me. This chicken had a wonderful flavor–bold but not overpowering, I also added a tablespoon of butter for that extra flavor and butter seems to meld flavors, unlike using oils alone.
I didn’t cut up a whole chicken. I’m not sure I really understood the originator’s description of how the chicken should be cut. It sounded a lot like the way the Chinese cut up a whole chicken. However, I intended to use parts anyway, so the butchering was a moot point to me. I used boneless skinless thighs–because they were on sale this week and I thought they’d be perfect for this.
Drumsticks would work too–not sure about breast, but my intuition tells me it would be good as well. I just thought the bold herb flavor needed a deeper chicken flavor, i.e. dark meat. But that’s only my individual taste. Use whatever you prefer.
This is SO good, it really doesn’t need any salt, which makes this an excellent meal for those watching their salt intake. Before you add, taste it. The salt is added in the final stages of cooking anyway. I do believe it’s the splash of lemon that makes this so tasty it doesn’t need any salt, but your mileage may vary, so salt to taste.
- 2 lbs chicken thighs or drumsticks, skin removed
- 2 onions, chopped
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 4 fresh sage leaves
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbs butter
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 lemon
- salt & pepper to taste
- Remove the leaves from the rosemary sprig; discard stem and chop the leaves very finely.
- Chop sage leaves finely.
- Heat a large skillet (about 11-12 inches) over medium heat.
- Add chicken, rosemary, sage, onion and olive oil; stir to coat well.
- Cook until chicken is golden brown and onion begins to brown, about 20 minutes.
- Add wine, bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes, or until chicken tests done by either the juices running clear or internal temperature is 175 degrees F.
- Add butter to the pan and mix well until blended.
- Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice over chicken
- Serve over pasta or rice
Yum
