Chicken with Pine Nuts
I got the good news last week that my parents managed to book a flight and are coming to Australia for Christmas. While I’m feeling very excited for their visit, I’m also a bit apprehensive as I start to imagine the tug of war that’s probably going to happen in the kitchen while my Mom, the Blog Monster is around. We’re moving homes this coming Monday and there’s a brand new kitchen to play with. Given my Mom’s penchant for taking over all the cooking while she visits, I’m pretty sure she’ll want to keep me away from the kitchen.
Of course it’s great coming home to a meal cooked by my Mom everyday… but sometimes I just want to scream “Please! Let me cook this time!”
A typical conversation when I tell my Mom I want to cook dinner. “Of course!” she said, then adds “Can I help you prepare?”
“No Mom. It’s fine. I’m going to make a simple dish – not much preparation needed.”
“Ah okay. What are you making? Can I help you buy the ingredients?” She asks.
“No Mom. That’s okay – I’m going to buy everything after work.” I tell her.
“Are you sure? Can I made a side dish?” She insists.
“No need.” I tell her.
“Okay. I’ll make a pie for dessert!” She says.
Mothers! They always end up having the last say don’t they?
Chicken with pine nuts
This chicken in brandy and pine nuts is my take on a dish my Mom makes frequently when she decides to lay claim on the kitchen. When she decides to make it, I gladly let her take over. It’s that good. She calls her dish Pollo al Ajillo (Chicken in Garlic Sauce) where the chicken is lightly browned and then stewed with a generous amount of garlic. I only had half the amount of garlic the day I wanted to make my Mom’s dish but I did have some pine nuts on hand which I thought worked particularly well. I like my version as much as I like my Mom’s. I certainly think it would give her a run for her money!
Chicken with Brandy and Pine Nuts
Serves 2
- 2 chicken marylands, thigh and leg separated
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 50 ml olive oil
- 5 cloves of garlic, smashed
- 50 ml brandy
- 100 ml dry white wine
- 2 to 3 parsley stalks plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- 1 bay leaf
- 200 ml chicken stock
- 40 grams of pine nuts, toasted at 160c for 10 minutes or until golden (don’t go any higher than 160c as this will cause the nuts to burn on the outside while remain raw on the inside)
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and coat with the two tablespoons of flour.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan and brown the chicken over high heat around three minutes each side. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside. Turn the heat to medium and place the garlic pieces, fry them for around three to five minutes until golden.
- Add the flour and cook this off for around two to three minutes then the brandy and reduce, then and the white wine and simmer until the liquid is reduced to half again (the liquid in the pan should almost be like a paste now because of the flour). Add the chicken stock, parsley stalks, bay leaf and finally add the chicken pieces and simmer for around 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked. If the cooking liquid is reduced too much, add some water while the chicken is simmering – the aim is to end up with a rich and thick sauce at the end of the cooking process.
- When the chicken is done, top with the roasted pine nuts and parsley.
Trissalicious 
I love this recipe and I totally understand the “mom” thing. She starts planning what WE are making for Christmas at my birthday (september). This year I just caved and she is doing Christmas Eve at her house. She lives right down the street, so we have many many food conversations. She does the “I’ll bring a pie thing” all the time. She is not a blogger; she’ll leave comments on my blog that have nothing to do with the post. But we love our moms.
This is EXACTLY what I want for dinner tonight. I’ve been craving chicken with some kind of sauce, something new, too, and this fits the bill. Too bad I’m too lazy to go to the store tonight. This looks perfect.
Can’t wait for more Blog Monster posts. 🙂
I miss cooking with my mom. When I was young, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen helping my mom and learnt to cook from her.
Your dish is deliciously looking!
Yum. I love using pinenuts in a lot of cooking. I wish they didn’t go bad so soon.
Your mother is precious! I enjoy my cooking sessions with my mother, every second of it. She welcomes my stupid and weird ideas and everything. And the best of all is that she can’t stand looking at me washing dishes. She thinks I am doing it all wrong and the dishes are never clean enough. I can totally live with that!
Your chicken with brandy sounds wonderful! A must try!
Lol, your mother sounds like my father! When I’m cooking, he always strolls in the kitchen, pretending he just wants to get something to drink…and then he starts staring at what I’m making.
Dad: “Hmmm, Toya what’s that?”. “Do those 2 onions you have on the cutting board go in that dish?
Me: Yes
Dad: Oh they do. You want me to chop them for you?”
Me: “No, thanks Dad, I got it.”
Dad: “Oh okay, well let me wash my hands and I’ll go ahead and start chopping the onions and garlic for you. Then I’ll help with with the side dish”
Me: **rolls eyes** 🙂
Hi Trissa
This recipe sounds delicious, I’ll have to make it. It’s ages since I visited your blog. I haven’t made anymore macarons yet. Been busy making other things.
I hope you have fun with your Mum and Dad. Yes, Mums can be a nuisance. Mine died almost exactly 6 years ago, so I wish she would be a nuisance.
Have the most wonderful Christmas and I hope you get exactly what you wish for.
Jean
Maybe you should send your mother to Woollies to keep an eye out for Margaret Fulton 🙂 That chicken looks so good, especially the brandy sauce. Yum!
If that is the case, I must try it out then… but yes mum always have final say.
Wow, Trissa. Every time I come by, your pics get better. Congrats! This chicken looks awesome. My mom came for Thanksgiving, and while she doesn’t cook, I came home and she said “I rearranged your cupboards while you were away.”
Urghhh!
I hope the move has gone well. Moving is stressful, and I remember b/c I just did it!
That looks really good, specially as I am reading this just before lunch and I am starving. Wish I could just make it pop out of my monitor. I am a massive fan of garlic an pine nuts.
As soon as I saw this recipe I bookmarked it for my husband, I can already tell he would love it!
I think I might make this tonight. Sounds delicious, and a bit French!
LOL – I think that is one of the privileges of being a mother to have the last word. This chicken sounds devine – and it has brandy in in it, so how could that be anything but fabulous?
Cannot wait to read about the blog monster in the next few weeks! LOL! The chicken dish looks so comforting…where’s the mash?
This sounds great Trissa, I can see the roasted pine nuts and the brandy sauce working very well together; I wander if we’ll get your mom’s recipe too 🙂
Dario
Elegant and beautiful as always. Oh, how I’d love to be a dinner guest at your house!
*kisses* HH
Can you send your mother to stay with me for a week., no…. make that a month 🙂
WOW! What a yummy show stopper. In August I could buy pine nuts here for 12 dollars a kilo. Now they are 42 dollars a kilo. I used to use them in everything… not any more. I sure hope next season will be a better one for that industry. But, I still have my stash. Brandy? I am in. I love cooking with it.
Another great recipe from Miss Trissalicious!
YUM!
🙂
valerie
Your mom sounds like fun! Come on, she just wants to be helpful. When my mom visits me we usually travel so she never helps me with anything. When I go visit, I have to help even if I’m holiday because she does not like to cook and bake. I should borrow your mom 🙂 And I should make this chicken!
I know what you mean. My mom thinks this whole cooking thing is just a phase. She’s still waiting for me to get a ‘real’ profession.
Congrats on the move and getting a brand new kitchen!
Funny dialogue.
But…as for our family, we might be the exceptional case, the daughter always has the final say. Haha….
Haha – that is totally the opposite from my mom. If I say that I want to cook, she just says, “OK!” 😀
I LOVE garlic, so this sounds really great. I’ve bookmarked it and am hoping to try it out on my friends soon!
Gotta love helpful mum’s in the kitchen!
Although I’d definitely receive a scolding if I ever declared that my dish gave my mum’s a run for her money! So nice to hear that the parents are visiting! What a wonderful way to spend the holidays, even if you ate faced with kitchen battles!
This dish looks like a real winner trissa, nothing spells out the holiday season quite like brandy 😀 hehe
U r so funny Tris! You have described mom and her tactics to a “T”!
Yummy looking chook dish, can’t wait to try it!
Are moms all around the world exactly the same?? It’s like you were talking about mine.
I miss my mom so much, I haven’t seen her in almost a year, so i wouldn’t mind if she cooked something for me right about now.
This dish looks reaallyy good Trissa. I love chicken and I’m not afraid to say it. Throw in brand and pine nuts? I’m sold!
Magda
This recipe just looks so month-watering delicious. The chicken looks so perfect and tender. I love the addition of pinenuts in the recipe 🙂