I have never seen this wonderful stew appear in any other cuisine, but it is a great one, the brininess of the clams vastly improving the taste of the chicken. This dish is often served with Peasant-Style Potatoes (page 477).

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　2 tablespoons olive oil

　　1 chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, cut into serving pieces, or 2 1/2 to 3 pounds chicken parts, trimmed of excess fat

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　2 large onions, sliced

　　1 tablespoon minced garlic

　　1 cup beef or chicken stock, preferably homemade (page 160)

　　2 dozen littleneck clams, well washed and scrubbed

　　Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish

　　

Step 1

Put the oil in a deep skillet or flameproof casserole, preferably nonstick, with a lid. Place over medium-high heat and wait a minute or so, until the oil is hot. Add the chicken, skin side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning the pieces as necessary and sprinkling them with salt and pepper as they cook, 10 to 15 minutes. As the pieces brown, transfer them to a platter.

　　

Step 2

Still over medium-high heat, add the onions to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until they brown nicely, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for another minute or so. Add the stock and the chicken.

　　

Step 3

Cover and adjust the heat so the mixture simmers; cook for about 10 minutes. Add the clams and raise the heat to high; cook just until the clams open (if one or two are stubborn, don’t worry about it; you can open them with a knife at the table), 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then garnish with the parsley and serve.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.