Potuguese Garlic Chicken

This Portuguese-style chicken braises for nearly 8 hours in a slow cooker on a bed of sliced onion, six cloves of garlic, pear tomatoes, chopped ham, and golden raisins. The braising liquid is a heady mix of port wine, brandy, Dijon mustard, and tomato paste. By the time you lift the lid, the meat is falling-off-the-bone tender.

The ham and raisins aren’t random additions. The ham adds a salty, smoky undertone to the braising liquid that’s distinctly Portuguese, and the golden raisins plump up during the long cook, bursting with sweet port-soaked flavor in the finished sauce.

A quick broil after the slow cook crisps and browns the skin. Without it, you’d have incredibly tender but pale, flabby-skinned chicken. Five minutes under the broiler fixes that completely.

The sauce gets thickened with a cornstarch slurry on HIGH after the chicken comes out, then finished with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. That vinegar is the final balancing act. It cuts through the richness of the port, brandy, and ham drippings, keeping the sauce bright instead of heavy.

Chef Tips

• Tuck the wingtips under and tie the drumsticks together. This keeps the bird compact so it cooks evenly in the slow cooker.
• Skim the fat from the cooking liquid before thickening. The long cook renders a lot of fat from the chicken and ham.
• Stir the cornstarch slurry two or three times during the 10-minute thickening. Unattended, it settles and clumps on the bottom.
• Carve the chicken at the table and let everyone spoon the sauce over their own portions.

Variations

• Spicy version: Add 1 teaspoon piri piri sauce or crushed red pepper flakes to the port mixture for traditional Portuguese heat.
• Bone-in thighs: Use 3 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs instead of a whole bird. Reduce the cook time to 6 hours on low.