Chicken with Walnut Sauce
- Chicken stock, preferably homemade (page 160), or water as needed
- One 3- to 4-pound chicken, trimmed of excess fat
- 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, stems reserved and tied together
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 thick slice day-old bread
- 1 cup walnuts, blanched
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 fresh hot red chile, stemmed and seeded, or 1 teaspoon pure chile powder, like ancho or New Mexico
- Bring a pot of chicken stock or water to a boil (starting with stock will mean even more flavorful chicken and even better stock when youre done).
- Add the chicken, onions, carrots, celery, parsley stems, salt, and pepper; the liquid should just cover the chicken.
- Simmer, uncovered, over low heat, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and cool to room temperature.
- Strain the stock and set aside.
- Put the bread in a bowl and saturate it with some of the stock.
- Squeeze any excess liquid out of the bread, then place it in a food processor with the parsley leaves, walnuts, garlic, and chile.
- Process until the walnuts are ground, then, with the machine running, pour in enough of the reserved stock to form a creamy sauce, about 2 cups.
- Reserve the remaining stock for another use.
- Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
- Carve the chicken and serve it with the sauce.
- When the chicken is cooked, remove the meat from the bones and chop into small pieces; combine with enough of the sauce to create a chicken salad.
- Serve at room temperature.
chicken, onions, carrots, celery stalks, parsley, salt, bread, walnuts, garlic, hot red chile
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chicken-with-walnut-sauce-386370 (may not work)