Baby Chicken with Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small baby chickens or Cornish hens
• 12 to 16 ounces each
• first two wing joints removed
• backbone removed and butterflied (flattened)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup pearl onions
• peeled
• 1/2 cup diced carrots1/2 cup diced turnips
• 2 tablespoons dried thyme
• 3 cloves garlic
• crushed
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 cup canned plum tomatoes
• drained and crushed
• 2 cups Chicken Stock
• 1/4 cup crumbled crispcooked bacon

Instructions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet.
3. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and brown well on both sides before removing and placing in an ovenproof casserole.
4. To the skillet in which you cooked the chicken, add the onions, carrots, turnips, thyme, and garlic, and saute until the vegetables begin to wilt.
5. Add the red wine, plum tomatoes, and chicken stock to the vegetables, and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.
6. Pour the vegetable mixture over the chicken in the heatproof casserole and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.
7. When the chicken has finished cooking, add the cooked, crumbled bacon to the casserole, and serve.