Tessa Kiros

Sautéed Chicken with Bay Leaves & Juniper Berries

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Preparation info

  • Serves

    4

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in

Apples for Jam

Apples for Jam

By Tessa Kiros

Published 2010

  • About

My friend Francesca, a great and creative cook, taught me this. The fresh bay leaves give a wonderful flavour and smell. With a simple pan of boiled potatoes with parsley (previous page) and green vegetables sautéed in olive oil and garlic, this is the kind of thing I would present to my family on a cool autumn night.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 fresh bay leaves
  • 25 juniper berries
  • 1 chicken, cut into 10 pieces, skin removed
  • 125 ml(4 fl oz/½ cup) white wine

Method

Put the oil, bay leaves and juniper berries in a large non-stick frying pan or flameproof casserole. Put the chicken on the bay leaves, turn the heat to medium and put the lid on the casserole. Cook until the underside of the chicken is lightly golden and the top is white. Turn over and salt and pepper the done side. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water if the chicken looks like sticking, then cover and cook until the juices have all evaporated. Turn again and salt and pepper lightly.

Squash the juniper berries with a fork to release the flavour, but still keep them fairly intact. Pour in the wine and cook uncovered until the wine has evaporated and the chicken is deep golden on all sides. When there is very little liquid in the pan, and even the bay leaves seem covered by some crusty sauce, turn off the heat, cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes or so before serving.