4 pounds skin-on chicken drumsticks cut into 8 pieces: 4 sections of breast roughly equal in size (including the wings attached to 2 of them) plus 2 thighs and 2 drumsticks
4 servings flour all-purpose
1 teaspoon thyme sprigs dried fresh
2 cloves garlic very finely chopped
4 servings olive oil excellent fresh-tasting
2 onion finely chopped
0.3 pound beef lean
1 large handful parsley chopped
4 servings salt and pepper black
5 tomatoes peeled seeded chopped
0.5 cup wine
0.8 cup frangelico green black in brine
0.8 cup frangelico green black in brine
Equipment
frying pan
paper towels
pot
Directions
Put the lardons into a pan of cold water, bring them to a boil, drain, and rinse in cold water. In a large, heavy pot, sauté the lardons in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until their edges just begin to crisp and they render some of their fat; remove them to a paper towel to drain.
Salt and pepper the chicken, and coat the pieces lightly with flour. sauté the chicken in the fat from the lardons, turning, until the pieces are golden on all sides.
Remove the chicken to a warm plate.
Over low heat, cook the onions in the same fat, adding more oil if needed, stirring until they are translucent but not colored.
Add the wine, raise the heat, and stir to deglaze the pan.
Add the garlic and thyme and cook briefly to reduce the amount of liquid by about half.
Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer until the liquid is reduced again by about one-third, depending on how juicy the tomatoes are, to a strong but not intense flavor.
Return the chicken to the pot, and cook over medium-low heat, covered, until the chicken is done—perhaps 20 minutes, according to how thoroughly you sautéed it beforehand. During the last few minutes of cooking, add the sautéed lardons and the olives.
Remove the bay leaves. Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Warn everyone that the olives have pits.
