Chicken Vesuvio

I must say that I have a thing for garlic!  What better dish to feed this craving than with anything Vesuvio style!!  Prior to this, I had never made anything Vesuvio style - I had only eaten it at restaurants.  In early June of 2002, I called a chef friend of mine and asked him to give me a scaled back version of this dish he made me at a local Italian restaurant he was chef at.  His Chicken Vesuvio was "the best" I have ever had.  Well, I've made the recipe twice in June and must say, it's my new favorite dish and not hard at all to make.  You have got to try this.  Tell me what you thought of it.

Ingredients

	1/4 cup vegetable oil
	1 head (about 10 cloves) fresh garlic, minced fine
	6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - pounded slightly (cut-up chicken parts may be used as well)
	1/2 cup flour
	2 cups white wine (like a Chablis)
	3 cups water
	2 tablespoons dried oregano
	1 tablespoon salt
	1 teaspoon fine ground black pepper
	1-1/2 cubes Maggi brand chicken base
	3 baking potatoes (see note below)
	3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped fine

Steps

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
• In 1 large or 2 medium, oven-safe frying pan(s), heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat
• In a bag, add flour and chicken breasts, 3 at a time, hold bag tightly and shake to coat chicken lightly
• Fry chicken breasts on both sides until lightly browned, then remove from pan to a plate
• Pour off most of the oil, leaving only a few tablespoons, then add finely chopped garlic. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, while at the same time, scrape the brown bits stuck in the pan so that it mixes with the garlic
• Increase heat to high, then carefully add white wine.  If alcohol does not ignite, using a long grill/candle lighter, light wine in order to ignite and burn off alcohol.  Flames will only last a few seconds.  Failing to burn off the alcohol will leave the dish with a strong alcohol taste.  I have yet to get the dish to burst into flames.  In fact, the last time I made this, i could not find a long lighter, so I used a small propane torch.  I kept stirring the sauce and kept running the flame around the inside edge of the pan at the level of the liquid.  I did this for about 3 minutes.  It worked pretty well.
• After alcohol is burned off, add the water, oregano, salt, pepper and  chicken base to the pan.  Stir to incorporate ingredients. When the boiling point is reached, remove from heat, add potato quarters in a single layer, then add chicken breasts on top of potatoes, also in a single layer 
• Baste chicken and potatoes with juices from the pan, then place pan(s) in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the dish it thoroughly heated through, basting after the first 10 minutes
• Remove from oven, arrange one chicken breast per plate with 2 potato quarters on each side.  Pour pan juice over the dish, sprinkle with parsley and serve
  

Note on baking potatoes:  I have always peeled the potatoes, sliced them lengthwise, then pan fried them in the vegetable oil to brown them on all sides.  Alternatively, you could bake them the day before, refrigerate them overnight, then peel and quarter them lengthwise and proceed to brown them in oil.

Serves 6

Recipe by Chef Albert Helton - interpreted by Jim Beletti - May, 2002

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Copyright (C) 1998-2002 J. D. Beletti, All rights reserved

Last revised: May 02, 2005 04:13 PM