Country Captain Chicken- My Way

I rediscovered a recent cookbook I purchased and have loved looking at the beautiful photographs.  I was inspired by the Country Captain recipe in the Well Fed Paleo cookbook and knew I needed to try this recipe, despite having never eaten this dish or seen it on a menu.  I took to google for additional inspiration and saw the Lee Bros recipe on the Food Network website. I had seen the dish on Throwdown with Bobby Flay and it looked good on the show, so I decided to mash up the Paleo and Lee Bros recipe and came up with this super tasty recipe!

My Country Captain Chicken recipe uses chicken breasts, lots of veggies and crushed San Marzano tomatoes.  This was flavorful and the extra veggies make it colorful.  I served mine with mashed cauliflower, but brown rice would also be good or cauliflower rice.  It doesn't taste like Indian cuisine, but it reminded me of jambalya in a way.  It takes some time to put together, but it's definitely worth it!

Country Captain Chicken- My Way
Inspired by Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People who Love to Eat and Lee Bros. Country Captain Chicken (as seen on Bobby Flay's Throwdown

1/2 cup beef broth or chicken broth
1/4 cup raisins
3lbs Chicken Breasts
2 tbsp coconut oil
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp ras el hanout spice blend
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp of tomato paste (optional)
1/2 onion, diced
4 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1 cup bell pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (San Marzano is what I used)
bacon as a garnish

Preheat oven to 350F 

Place the raisins in a bowl.   Put the broth in a small saucepan and bring to a boil and pour over the raisins.

Heat the coconut oil in a dutch oven over medium- high heat.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken breasts and place the chicken in the pan to sear on both sides, but do not crowd the pan.  Transfer the seared chicken to a 9x13 pan.

Add all of the vegetables to the pan with the remaining oil and cook for about 15 minutes or until softened.  Add the spices and tomato paste to the pan and cook together for about a minute.  Add the raisins and broth, the crushed tomatoes and allow to reduce for about 8 minutes.  Pour the mixture over the chicken.  Cover the pan in aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Turn the heat up to 400F and bake for another 10 minutes.  

Serve with mashed cauliflower or cauliflower rice and top with cooked bacon if desired.  Enjoy!