Sunday Chicken In Fresh Tomato And Vinegar Sauce

Directions

1. Set peeled tomatoes in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook till mix has broken down and has reduced to a 1 c. of puree. Pat chicken dry; salt each piece lightly. Heat oil over medium heat. When warm, add in thigh and drumstick pcs and unpeeled garlic and sear in warm fat for 3 min a side. Add in breast and wing pcs and sear those as well till golden, about 3 min a side.
2. Remove breast and wing pcs and continue to saute/fry leg and thigh pcs so flesh continues to brown as it cooks, about 10 min, add in reserved breast and wing pcs and cover. Continue to cook, over gentle heat for another 15 min or possibly till juices of the chicken run clear when the thigh piece is pricked.
3. Remove chicken to a platter and keep it hot, loosely covered with foil. Throw away all but 1 Tbsp. of fat and add in 1 Tbsp. of butter (if all the fat is too dark, replace it with fresh butter). Mash garlic against the sides of the pan and skins should slide off easily; throw away skins. Add in vinegar, fresh c. of reduced tomato puree and red wine.
4. Bring liquid to a boil. Reduce it over high eat till only 1 c. remains, mashing garlic into sauce; season with 1 tsp. of salt and freshly-grnd black pepper. Remove skin and fat from chicken pcs and return them to sauce and turn chicken in sauce (recipe can be made ahead of time up till this point).
5. Reheat chicken, over gentle heat for 4 min. Stir in parsley and turn the chicken over in the sauce to ensure pcs are well coated. Garnish with watercress This recipe yields 4 servings.