Chicken With Tomatoes and Lime

With tomatoes and fresh herbs being gorgeous and cheap at the farmer’s market right now, I’ve been making this dish quite a lot lately.  The inspiration came from Jamie’s Dinners by Jamie Oliver, which The Daddy Monkey gave me for my birthday.  I’m sure his reasons for giving me a cookbook filled with gorgeous food were entirely unselfish. <wink>  It’s a fantastic book, by the way.

I’ve been tinkering with Jamie’s recipe and I think mine is even better.  This is so easy and delicious.  The chicken is fall off the bone tender, and the tomatoes caramelize into a sweet jammy goodness.

Tonight I served ours with tostones (twice fried plantains) and a green salad.  You can also substitute basil for the cilantro and omit the lime, giving this a more Mediterranean flavor.

ROSE’S CHICKEN WITH TOMATOES AND LIME

2 bone-in leg and thigh quarters, or 4 bone-in chicken thighs (Any chicken parts can be used as long as they still have the skin and bones.  Personally, I prefer dark meat for this.)

4 to 6 plum tomatoes, quartered; or one pint cherry tomatoes, uncut

3 or 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

olive oil

dried red pepper flakes

ground cumin

ground chile powder

salt and pepper

a few tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped fine

lime, halved

Preheat oven to 350. Place tomatoes and garlic in an ovensafe dish and top with chicken parts.  Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle to taste with cumin, chile, pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.  Bake in oven, uncovered for an hour and a half.  Remove chicken and garlic and pour off chicken fat, leaving tomato and its juices in the pan.  Squeeze garlic from its skin, and grind to a paste with the back of a fork.  Add garlic and chopped cilantro to tomatoes, and combine.  Taste and adjust salt.  Serve chicken with tomatoes, and sprinkle the whole thing with fresh lime juice.

Special credit to The Daddy Monkey who gave me the idea for the fresh lime.  It makes all the difference, and in his words, “Tastes just like it does in Mexico.”