Chicken and Figs

Wine: petite rousse 2005

Fig Season is very short. We purchased figs for the last couple of weeks and usually ate them with prosciutto.

We decided to make one of favorite recipes from The Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers: Chicken Braised with Figs, Honey & Vinegar. The recipe is straight forward, although like most cooking the better the ingredients used the better the result. I went to the Santa Monica Farmer’s market and purchased some figs that we added to a few we had purchased over the weekend at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. The main reason I went there was because I wanted to go to Vicenti Market to purchase Smart Chicken. We think it is the only market that currently sells Smart Chickens in Los Angeles. I don’t know if the smart refers to the Chicken, the butcher or the owner of the company, but the chickens are good!

We started with a salad made from Fresh Apricots (stone fruit is in the market now). We made a sauce of Mexican Crema and Saba. To the salad we added Prosciutto and Almonds that we bought from The Cheese Store of Silverlake.


CHICKEN BRAISED with FIGS, HONEY & VINEGAR

Learning to identify good figs is an annual ritual at Zuni. As each year's fig crop appears, I always ask the new cooks if they have eaten many before. Often, particularly from those new to California, the answer is, "Not really," and I envy them the pleasure of what lies ahead.
"Look at them. Feel them. Plump can be good, but not unless they are really heavy for their size and they need to be tender."
A tentative squeeze.
"Taste it. How is it? And that cracked one. It's kind of light, but check any¬way. How about that one, it looks flawless, and it's heavy, but it is kind of hard. Taste it."
After a wary nibble, "It's not that great."
"Now look at that one. Shrunken and wrinkled is actually good, as long as it is heavy. 'Pristine' isn't usually a good sign. If you look for pretty, you may miss the best ones. Just keep tasting until you can tell. And then try to remember how 'that look' and 'that feel' taste."
This last applies to all produce, all meat, all fish, all cooking.
We use a lot of figs at Zuni, in every course. This dish is Greek in inspiration, and it is a crowd pleaser. We use fleshy Kadota figs, syrupy and with a blush of pink in the center when ripe, though you can use Smyrnas {re-christened "Calmyrna" or "Calimyrna" when grown in California}, Excel, Adriatic, or plump-ripe Black Mission figs as well. Use wildflower or chestnut honey. The fla¬vor of lavender honey is too persuasive.
We sometimes serve this dish with a salad of raw fennel ribbons and frisee or arugula, with wedges of fried pizza dough to sop up the sauce. Grilled bread is a fine and practical alternative.

FOR 4 SERVINGS:

4 chicken legs (8 to 9 ounces each}
Salt
About 2 tablespoons mild-tasting olive oil
1 medium yellow onion {about 8ounces), root end trimmed flat, peeled, and cut into 8 wedges
About 1/2 cup dry white wine
About 2 tablespoons dry white vermouth
About 1/2 cup Chicken stock
1 bay leaf
A sprig of fresh thyme
A few black peppercorns, barely cracked in a mortar
About 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
About 1 tablespoon honey
8 to 10 ripe fresh figs - Kadota, Smyrna, Excel, Adriatic, or Black Mission

Seasoning the chicken {for the best flavor and succulence, do this step 12 to 24 hours in advance}:
Trim the excess fat, then season the chicken evenly all over with salt {we use a scant 3/4 teaspoon sea salt per pound of chicken. Cover loosely and refrigerate.

Cooking the chicken:
Preheat the oven to 375°.
Pat the chicken legs dry; this will make them less likely to stick. Heat a scant
2 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, then add the
chicken legs, skin side down. The oil should sizzle, not pop explosively, when
you add chicken. Adjusting the heat as necessary, cook until the skin is evenly
golden, about 8 minutes. Turn the legs over and color only slightly on the other
side, about 4 minutes. Pour off the fat.
If your skillet is ovenproof, arrange the onion wedges in the spaces between the chicken legs; otherwise, transfer the chicken to a shallow flameproof braising dish that will easily hold the chicken and onions in a single layer, and add the onions. Add the wine, the vermouth, and enough stock to come to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Bring to a simmer and add-the bay-leaf , thyme, and cracked black peppercorns.
Place, uncovered, in the oven, and cook until the meat is tender but not quite falling off the bone, about 40 minutes. The exposed skin will have turned golden and crispy; the liquid ought to have reduced by about half. Remove from the oven and set on a slight tilt so the fat will collect at one side of the pan.
Combine the vinegar and honey and warm slightly. Taste. The vinegar should dominate, but without making you squint. Trim the stems and cut the figs in half.

Skim as much fat as possible from the braising liquid, then set the pan over
medium heat. Bring to a boil and swirl as you reduce the liquid to a syrupy con¬sistency. Distribute the figs evenly around the pan, add about 2 tablespoons of the vinegar-honey syrup, and swirl the pan to diffuse the bubbling, amber syrup without smashing the tender fruit. The sauce will be glossy. Taste - it should be rich and vibrantly sour-sweet. Add more, or all of the syrup, to taste. The vinegar adds a bright but unstable note of acidity, which will fade with boiling, so sim¬mer for only a minute or less.
Serve each chicken leg with 2 wedges of sweet, soft onion and 4 or 5 fig halves, bathed in a few spoonfuls of the sauce.