Chicken ciulama
Creamy baked chicken
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 2 large carrots diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 6 skinless chicken drumsticks
- 8 oz white mushrooms (optional)
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine diced vegetables and garlic. Place half the vegetable mixture in bottom of casserole. Arrange chicken pieces on top of vegetables and cover with remaining vegetable mixture. Cover the pot and bake in the oven for an hour.
- While chicken is baking, slice the mushrooms (if using) and sauté in a small amount of oil. Set aside for later.
- Remove casserole from oven after an hour. Check that vegetables are nearly cooked through and that chicken is beginning to brown. If things look undercooked, return casserole to the oven for another 30 minutes or so. Check again for doneness.
- Whisk together flour, cream and paprika. Pour into casserole, cover and put back in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Take casserole from the oven and place on stovetop. Carefully remove chicken pieces to a serving dish. Over a low flame cook the sauce until it thickens to desired consistency. Reserve an amount of gravy for anyone who does not enjoy mushrooms. Put sautéed mushrooms into the sauce, stir and cook a couple minutes more. Pour gravy over chicken pieces, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve over polenta or mashed potatoes.
Notes
If everyone enjoying the dish likes mushrooms you can add them directly to the casserole with the cream sauce before the second bake time.