Catalan chicken with picada

This is an amazing chicken dish which you really should try. The recipe came from Diana Henry on Market Kitchen which is a daily program on UKTVFood.
This recipe in it's simplest form is just a chicken stew but it has a twist and that is the "Picada". A Picada is a Catalan method of thickening stews and soups by using ground bread, nuts and sometimes biscuits. Herbs and garlic can also be added, this is then mixed with olive oil and a little wine to form a not very appetising (think gruel) but fantastic tasting paste. when added to soups or stews it thickens them as well as adding wonderful flavour and texture.
This is a revelation to me and one that I will definitely be experimenting with, I'm thinking lamb tagine...

Diana Henry's Picada recipe

• 1 sweet biscuit, (such as Rich Tea)
• 25g country bread
• 25g pine nuts
• 75ml dry white wine
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the picada: grind the biscuit, bread and pine nuts in a mortar and pestle, or in a food processor, gradually adding the white wine and olive oil until well combined.

I really urge you to try this it is amazing and is very adaptable, change the ingredients to suit whatever you're cooking.

The following picture is the chicken I made based on the Market Kitchen recipe (link at the bottom of the page). It is a beautiful tomato based dish with onions garlic and thyme. But what makes it special and gives it a Catalan feel is the addition of pine nuts and raisins, not forgetting the Picada...

I served mine with roast squash and fresh Ciabatta.
The recipe can be found here: Catalan chicken with Picada