Creole Style Smothered Chicken

Creole Style Smothered Chicken - a whole butterflied chicken cooked under weight in a skillet and smothered with a creole sauce.

Today is the start of something new! Something that I hope you will find exciting and interesting. Twelve food bloggers have joined forces to bring you a virtual "progressive dinner."

The virtual progressive dinner was the brainchild of my blogging friend, Barb, from Creative Culinary, who has organized the effort and is keeping us all on track. Bless her.

Our plan is to hold a progressive dinner once a month with a different theme and host for each. The host chooses the theme for the party and makes the main dish. The other participants create all the sides, beverages, and desserts.

What is a Progressive Dinner?

Maybe you're wondering what the heck is a progressive dinner? Well, progressive dinners have been around for quite some time.

I remember my parents doing them back in the '60s and '70s and I did them myself later on. It's a dinner party with each individual course prepared at a different participant's home.

You'd start with drinks at one home, then "progress" to the next home for appetizers, then on to the next for the main course, and so forth. The evening would end with dessert (and maybe more drinks) at the final person's home.

Sound like fun? We think so! So we're bringing it to you virtually.

And it's my privilege to be the host for the very first get together. For this month's theme, I chose "Summer in the South" - what else? And the entree I've chosen to cook for you is a southern classic - Creole Style Smothered Chicken. It's a whole butterflied chicken cooked in a skillet under weights with a creole sauce.

I do hope you enjoy it. And please be sure to "progress" through to each of the other participating blogs to experience all the other courses.

Creole Style Smothered Chicken - a whole butterflied chicken cooked under weight in a skillet and smothered with a creole sauce. Click To Tweet

How to Make Creole Style Smothered Chicken

Choose a skillet large enough to hold the butterflied chicken without crowding, preferably a well-seasoned black iron skillet. The one I used here is a 12-inch.

Lightly season both sides of a butterflied (or spatchcocked) chicken with salt and pepper. If you're not sure how to butterfly or spatchcock a chicken, see my post here. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat, then add the chicken skin side down.

Cover the chicken with a heavy plate or a smaller skillet that will fit inside the cooking skillet (I'm using a 10-inch smaller skillet in the photo). Weight the plate or skillet with several heavy cans. You need about 5 pounds of weight. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 25 minutes or until the skin is nicely browned.

When the chicken has browned, remove it to a plate and set aside.

Without cleaning the skillet, add the onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, salt, black pepper, and thyme. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are wilted.

Sprinkle with flour and stir until well blended. Add the tomatoes with their juice. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.

Return the chicken to the pan with the browned side up on top of the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover with the plate or smaller skillet and weights. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160F.

Remove the chicken to a serving platter. Increase the heat slightly and cook the sauce briefly until thickened.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with the chopped green onions.

Enjoy!

More Creole Style Recipes on Never Enough Thyme:

• Creole Black Eyed Pea Soup
• Creole Beef and Okra Soup
• Shrimp Creole

Creole Recipes from Other Bloggers:

• Creole White Beans with Chicken from Budget Bytes
• Crispy Creole Roasted Zucchini from A Spicy Perspective
• Creole Black-eyed Peas from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

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Creole Style Smothered Chicken

Creole Style Smothered Chicken - a whole butterflied chicken cooked under weight in a skillet and smothered with a creole sauce.

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Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Dishes

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 1353kcal

Author: Lana Stuart

Ingredients

• 1 4 lb. butterflied chicken
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 tblsp. butter
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 medium green bell pepper finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
• ½ tsp. dried thyme
• 2 tblsp. flour
• 1 14.5 oz. can tomatoes with their juice
• 2 tblsp. chopped green onions

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Instructions

• Choose a skillet large enough to hold the butterflied chicken without crowding. A well-seasoned black iron skillet is preferable.
• Lightly season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken, skin side down. Cover the chicken with a plate or a smaller skillet that will fit inside the cooking skillet. Weight the plate or skillet with several cans. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 25 minutes or until the skin is nicely browned.
• Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside. Without cleaning the skillet, add the onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, salt, black pepper, and thyme and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are wilted. Sprinkle with flour and stir until well blended.
• Add the tomatoes with their juice, increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Return the chicken, browned side up, on top of the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with the plate or smaller skillet and weights. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the chicken reaches and internal temperature of 160F.
• Remove the chicken to a serving platter. Increase the heat slightly and cook the sauce briefly until thickened. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with the chopped green onions.

Notes

A classic southern recipe, the origins of which are obscure. This version is based on Craig Claiborne’s recipe in Craig Claiborne’s Southern Cooking.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1g | Calories: 1353kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 117g | Fat: 66g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 39g | Cholesterol: 442mg | Sodium: 987mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 13g

Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your health care provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.

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