Cajun Braised Chicken

Last week one of our local supermarkets had a super sale on chicken.  They had thighs, drumsticks and split breasts for $1.00 per pound!  Since I cook with chicken a lot, I stocked up.  I bagged most of it and froze it.  Then I used some of the split breasts (big, whole breasts with the bone) to make this recipe.  It's a braised chicken with a Cajun flair.  It was delicious!  Here's how I did it:

CAJUN BRAISED CHICKEN

4 lbs chicken pieces (bone-in)
Tony Chachere's creole seasoning (any Cajun seasoning will work)
2 TBS oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 TBS tomato sauce (or paste, even spaghetti sauce would work)
Splash of Louisiana hot sauce
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth (plus more for braising)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large pot with a tight-fitting lid (dutch oven) heat oil.  Season chicken well with Tony's.  Brown chicken in the oil on all sides.  Remove to a plate and set aside.

Drain any excess grease and discard.  Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup chicken broth.  Make sure the pot is over high heat, then add the broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to get up all the bits of chicken stuck to the bottom.  That's all deglazing is.

Once you deglaze the pan, add hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce.  Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic.

Return the chicken to the pot.

 Add enough chicken broth (or water or a mixture of both) to make the liquid level halfway up the sides of the chicken.

Bring to a boil.  Put the lid on the pot and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 hours*.  (If you want to cook this on the stove top, cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 1-2 hours or until chicken is cooked through.  I like to put it in the oven because I find it easier).

*Cook time will depend on how big your chicken pieces are.  Mine were really big, so it took 2 hours.  Small drumsticks would take way less time, maybe 45 minutes - 1 hour.  Just check to see that the insides are not pink and the juices run clear.

Since my pieces were so big, I shredded them up instead of serving a giant piece of chicken (even though my husband could probably eat it and then some).

I like to serve this over rice.  After all it is a Cajun dish.  We Cajuns love our rice!  But you can serve it over pasta or french bread or just as is.  You definitely want to make this one!  It is so good.  Ca cest bon!