Quick and very tasty. Worth the effort.
My post-production notes:
(1) You need to prepare a generous portion of the sauce. The sauce must be on the thick side.
(2) When you mix in the olive oil, do it VERY sparingly and carefully – as little oil as possible – certainly not freely as it drops out of the bottle – otherwise the oil does not integrate into the paste, and loose oil makes it virtually impossible to cover the chicken with anything but oil. So, err on the side of too little oil rather than too much. It is quite doable, when applying some care..
(3) You may want to engage second pair of hands for the rubbing and dredging (steps 5 and 6), as your hands end up very sticky and the second coat of flour etc does not seem to want to stick very obediently..
Yield: 4 servings
- 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
- 1 to 2 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs, like tarragon and sage
- 2 tablespoons tahini or peanut butter
- 1/4 cup olive oil, more for frying
- Flour for dredging
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 4 half-breasts
- Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish
- Lemon wedges for serving.
- In a blender or the container of a food processor, combine onion, herbs and tahini.
- As you purée the mixture, slowly add just enough olive oil through the feed tube to make a thick, smooth paste; do not let it get too thin.
- Put flour in a shallow bowl.
- Place chicken in another bowl.
- Rub puréed mixture over chicken, then dredge each piece in flour.
- Gently shake off any excess flour, coat again with paste and dredge once more in flour.
- Heat 1/4 inch olive oil in a skillet; when it is hot, fry chicken for about 4 minutes each side, until well browned and cooked through; it will take longer if you use chicken with the bone in. You will likely fry in batches, so have the oven on some 350F/175C, and keep the early pieces in for a few minutes, as you fry the rest. It does not hurt to keep the whole group in the oven while you prepare the pasta or mashed potatoes or salad to go with it.
- Garnish with parsley and serve hot or warm, with lemon wedges.
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