Tart Chicken

Another delicious chicken recipe from Laura Calder. The first time I made this I forgot to strain the sauce at the end and to add to last tablespoon of butter, and it was still delicious with the tomato chunks all the same.
August 2017 - I've made a few amendments to reflect how I make this. Namely it is the description for the vinegar reduction as well as added element in reducing the sauce at the end, before incorporating the knob of butter. It makes it more syrupy and gooey. :)

1 chicken (3-1/2 pounds/1.6 kg) cut into six-to-eight pieces

Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp (14gr) butter + plus another for finishing

1 Tbsp mild vegetable oil

6 cloves garlic, peeled

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

4 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 good handfuls of chopped fresh parsley

1. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Melt 1 spoonful of the butter in a sauté pan with a drizzle of oil to prevent it burning, and brown the chicken (don't use non-stick or you won't get the rich fond to form). You’re not cooking the chicken here, just making the skin crisp and giving it colour and flavour. Four to five minutes per side is about right, depending on the cooking temperature, which should be medium high or more. Set aside the chicken.
2. Lower the temperature and let the pan cool a bit to avoid burning the garlic, then cook 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar and boil down by half, about 10 minutes (you'll know when the sound changes and you can run a wooden spoon along the bottom and it leaves a trail because the liquid has thickened). 
3. Return the chicken to the pan, and pour the stock over. Add the herbs, tomato paste, and the tomatoes. Cover and simmer until the meat is cooked, about half an hour (with a meat thermometer the white meat should read 165F and the brown 180). Remove the chicken to a dish and keep warm.
4. Strain the liquid into a saucepan, pressing to get all the juices through, then using a wooden spoon to strain as much matter from the veg as possible. Boil the liquid to reduce again until you get a nice syrup (wooden spoon trick again. Whisk in the last spoonful of butter, and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle over the parsley, and serve.