Chicken Sauce Piquant
Piquant means sharp or prickly, and with the acid from the tomato and the spice this dish could be a little prickly (but it is delicious). With a supply of tomatoes and peppers from our garden, and quite a bit of chicken in the freezer, this was a dish I needed to try.
I studied a half dozen recipes or more for this, and clearly everyone has different family traditions when they make it. This dish is more of a home cooked meal and less of a restaurant staple like gumbos, jambalaya and etouffees. This version would be something of a Creole meal due the amount of tomato used, while a typical Cajun version is more of a rusty brown with less tomato, very browned vegetables, and a dark roux. I do follow the Cajun tradition of making this as a one pot dish.
In the picture above, we served the Piquant with Cajun Potato Salad. The sharpness of the potato salad is a nice counterpoint to the richness of the Piquant.
Chicken Sauce Piquant
Ingredients
- 1 Chicken Cut Up, or 3-4# of your favorite chicken pieces. you could also do this with rabbit, pheasant, or any small game.
- Salt & Pepper, to taste or Creole seasoning
- 1 lb smoked sausage sliced thin on the bias.
- 1 ¼ cup Flour
- ½ cup neutral oil I like peanut oil
- 1 stick butter
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 large bell pepper chopped
- 1 bunch green onions chopped with whites and greens separated
- 4-6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium tomato chopped or one can diced tomatoes (Rotel is good).
- 12 oz tomato paste 2 small cans
- 15-16 oz of tomato sauce
- 32 oz chicken stock (1 quart)
- 2 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Cajun/Creole spice
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes or ¼ cup of fresh parsley chopped
- 1-2 Tbsp sugar
- 3 bay leaves
Taste and add if needed:
- Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Cayenne Pepper or Hot Sauce
- Some water or beer 1/2 cup at a time if it is too thick.
Instructions
- Chop your veggies ahead of time, so they are ready to add.
- Place the chicken in a large bowl and season with salt & pepper (or Creole seasoning) and stir through with your hand.
- Take 1/2 cup of the flour and dust the chicken pieces.
- Heat a heavy bottom pot over medium heat, and then add the oil.
- Brown the sausage pieces until they are even. Remove to a bowl.
- Brown your chicken pieces on both sides (about 5 min each) and then remove to the same bowl.
- Turn the heat down to medium low; add the butter to your pot and allow to melt.
- Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir constantly; cook to a peanut butter color.
- Add the yellow onion to cool down the roux and sauté until the onion is soft. The roux will also turn darker.
- Add the celery and green pepper and sauté until soft.
- Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant.
- Add the white onions and stir through.
- Add the tomato paste, and stir through. This will take some time and stirring to break up, and you want the paste to brown a little on the bottom of the pot. You also want to build up some fond (called gradoux in Cajun country) on the bottom of the pot for added flavor.
- Add the diced tomato and stir through.
- Add the tomato sauce and stir through.
- Add 1-2 cups of chicken stock and stir through, working to deglaze the bottom of the pot.
- Simmer for a while, and then add the other 1-2 cups of chicken stock to get to the desired consistency and simmer some more.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce and seasonings and stir through.
- Add the chicken and sausage (and any juices) to the pot and stir through, then make sure the chicken is submerged.
- Simmer, covered, for at least 2 hours, stirring every 15-30 minutes to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
- When done, the chicken should be falling off the bone tender; cook a little longer if needed.
- Taste the sauce and make adjustments as needed.
- If the sauce is too thick, add some beer (or water) to thin it out a little, adding 1/2 cup at a time.
- Serve over rice, and garnish with the onion greens and/or parsley.
- Good side dishes include pickles, potato salad, or jalapeno corn.
- I made this the day before, and then reheated it for an hour and a half while I made rice and sides. The chicken was so tender it literally fell of the bone in the pot.