We’re not cooking Greek. This time it’s Spanish. Here’s my recipe for Catalan Roasted Chicken with onions, carrots, cinnamon, thyme, pears, orange juice and zest, raisins and dried cranberries. I adapted this recipe from one in Sur La Table’s** cooking class, “Date Night: Tapas Party. I served it with quinoa. There’s a printable recipe at the end of this post. Be sure to check it for coupons.
Ingredients: Chicken thighs, salt and pepper, olive oil, onion, carrots, cinnamon stick, thyme, chicken stock, garlic, pears, raisins, dried cranberries, orange juice & zest.
Chicken thighs seared until golden brown in olive oil and a little butter.
Golden brown chicken in ovenproof dish set aside. 1/4 cup of pan liquid reserved.
Onions, garlic and carrots cooked until soft.
Stock added and mixture poured over chicken – ready for the oven.
Pears frying cut side down, until just slightly brown. Combined fruit mixture.
Fruit mixture with juice, zest and reserved pan liquid and browned pears.
I used orange zest strips for a more rustic look or you can zest with a microplane.
Chicken after 20 minutes in 350° oven
Pears and fruit mixture added
Finished after baking another 15 minutes in 350° oven.
- 4 chicken thighs
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- 4 TBLS olive oil
- 3 TSP butter
- 1 medium onion, cut into fine slices
- 2 mediums carrots, cut into ½ inch long slices or 2 cups mini carrots
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 TSP thyme
- 1½ cups of chicken stock
- 4 whole garlic cloves
- 2 firm ripe pears, cored and quartered
- ⅓ cup raisins
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 1 TBLS orange zest
- 4 TBLS orange juice
- Season chicken with salt and pepper then set aside
- Place large heavy bottom saucepan over medium high heat
- Add olive oil to coat bottom of pan
- Add 2 TSP butter
- Sear chicken until golden brown about 5 minutes per side
- Place chicken in ovenproof dish and set aside
- Remove drippings/fat/oil from pan and reserve ¼ cup of pan liquid
- Set pan liquid aside
- Return pan to heat
- When pan is hot, add onions, garlic and carrots
- Season with salt and pepper
- Cook until soft about 5 minutes
- Add cinnamon stick, thyme and stock
- Increase heat and bring to a boil
- Pour the rest of the stock mixture over the chicken in ovenproof dish
- Bake covered for approximately 20 minutes
- While chicken is baking, combine raisins, dried cranberries, orange zest, juice and reserve liquid and set aside
- Add remaining olive oil and butter to pan until it just starts to simmer
- Add the pears, cut side down, until they start to brown
- Add fruit mixture to chicken
- Place browned pears, cut side up around the chicken
- Return to oven and bake uncovered until pears are tender, about 15 minutes
** ICYMI I work at Sur La Table Cooking School.
My step-son, Jason Hammond, turned 40 on June 3rd. Here he is with my grandson Maxwell. To celebrate we had dinner al fresco [on our deck]. I marinated chicken and Yianni grilled it. [
I started with a fresh fruit salad of strawberries, blueberries, grapes and pineapple.
I also made cole slaw with green and red cabbage, radishes, carrots, pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries. I love this new 
you try it. It has simple, natural ingredients, is very light and has great flavor.
My potato salad ingredients are red skin potatoes, red onion or scallions, hard boiled eggs, radishes and celery. I make the dressing with Hellman’s mayonnaise, mustard, and sour cream.
As you can see, we all really enjoyed it.
It was a beautiful summer night and we all enjoyed ourselves. Happy birthday Jason!
I received this cookbook as a Christmas present and I thought I would check out 
Here are my ingredients:
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice [I used the bottled organic “Italian Volcano Lemon Juice” from Costco.]
Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs. Pour over the chicken breasts in a nonreactive bowl. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. [I let the chicken marinate for 4 hours. I’m sure the longer the better.]
I really like the way this recipe turned out. The chicken was so moist and flavorful. Try it, you’ll like it!
