Fried chicken bites in the skillet with dried fruits

A hearty and delicious traditional dish which will satisfy you and enrich your Winter time table with its savoury and sweet taste. The chicken bites stay soft and moist and the dried fruits add a nice extra flavour to the whole dish

Recipe of Vassilis Kallides,

a prominent Head Cook and food author

"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4-5 people):
5 boneless chicken thighs (ask your butcher to fillet them for you)
½ cup of dried prunes
½ cup of dried apricots
½ cup of dates, pitted
½ cup of leeks (the white part), finely chopped
2 tbsp of pine nuts
2 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 glass of red dry wine
½ an orange, the juice
½ a lemon, the juice
½ tsp of dried thyme
a small pinch of ground cumin
½ cup of cognac, mixed with 3 tbsp of water
8 tbsp of olive oil
salt
pepper

Method:
Put the dried fruits in a bowl and leave them to soak for about 3 hours with the cognac. Drain in a colander and keep the leftover cognac for later.

Cut the filleted thighs in bite-size pieces. Warm the olive oil in a spacious and deep heavy-bottomed frying pan in medium-high heat. When hot, add the chicken and sauté until the juices evaporate.

Add in the pan the leek and the onion and season with salt and pepper: Sauté, gently stirring with a wooden spoon, until they get nicely browned.

Add, then, the dried fruits, pour over with the wine, the lemon and the orange juice and 2 tbsp of the cognac. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer the food for about 20 minutes until the food is left only with it's slightly thickened sauce.

Just before you take off the heat, sprinkle with the thyme, the cumin and the chopped garlic. Stir the food for a couple of times so the flavours blend together nicely and serve while the food is still hot.