Whole Chicken Braised with Pears

You can serve it with a rice pilaf (rice cooked in chicken broth with onion, saffron, cinnamon, paprika and thyme) - which was OK but not great - and started the meal with a mixed green salad with Gorgonzola Vinaigrette I'd previously made. Everybody loved it.

Ingredients

1 - 4 1/2 lb chicken
salt & pepper to taste
dried thyme to taste
3 just-ripe pears
4 tbsp unsalted butter or butter substitute
1 large leek, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup beef or chicken broth
1 tbsp. cider or white wine vinegar
2 tsp stevia or sugar
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Instructions

Tear off any large chunks of fat from the chicken and discard. Remove the giblets from the chicken and set aside, except for the liver which you should discard. Cut off the last two joints from each wing of the chicken and set aside with the giblets.

Wash the chicken inside and out and pat dry. Salt and pepper it inside and out. Sprinkle dried thyme inside. Cut one of pears in four pieces and put it inside teh chicken. Truss it and pat it dry again.

Heat the oven to 300 F.

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pot large enough to hold the chicken or a Dutch oven. Put the chicken and brown on each side. Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the giblets and wing tips and brown. Remove and set aside with the chicken. Pour off the fat from the pot and discard.

Melt 1 tbsp of butter in the pot. Add the chopped leek and shallots, salt, pepper and about 1 tsp of dried thyme. Sautee until the vegetables are soft. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the broth and vinegar and boil for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.

Return chicken to the pot, setting it on top of the vegetables. Put giblets and wings around the chicken. Cover the pot with wax paper, pressing down so it almost touches the chicken. Cover with the lid and put in the oven. Cook until the chicken reaches 170 degree, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Every 20 minutes, baste it with the juices.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the garnish. Peel the remaining two pears, core them and cut them in slices. Melt 2 tbsp. of butter in a skillet and add the pears. Toss them to coat them with butter. Add the sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Sautee until the pears start to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, stir and cook for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and set aside.

When the chicken is ready, remove from the pot and keep warm under a towel or aluminun foil. Strain the braising liquid into a small saucepan and discard the vegetables. Boil the braising liquid until it acquires the consistency of a thick vinaigrette. Add the pear garnish to the sauce and mix well.

Serve the chicken alongside the pear garnish.