Greek Chicken Kleftiko from  Culinary Flavors  makes my mouth water and I’m pretty sure it will do the same for you.  I love how Katerina shares Greek history with many of her recipes.

The history of this dish goes back many many years. Greece had been enslaved under Ottoman Empire for 400 years between 1453 and 1821. During that period, Ottoman Empire delegated certain roles to certain people in order to maintain the stability and control of the area; Armatoles and Klephts. The prime were recruited by the Ottoman government to control certain areas of interest delegated to them by the local Ottoman Pashas. These areas were hard to access or had high levels of brigandage. They were carrying guns and tried to maintain the delicate status-quot with the Ottoman authorities.

In direct contrast, the Klephts were anti-Ottoman insurgents, who were the descendants of Greeks who retreated into the mountains to avoid Ottoman oppression.

Kleftiko or Klephtiko means the one coming from the Klephts. During those years of oppression and the subsequent ones of the revolution, those people in order not to be discovered they had to invent ways to cook their meals in the mountains. They had to find tricks not only to eliminate any smoke, but also to not be able for anyone to smell the cooking meals. Thus, they cooked their meat, that being lamb back then, in a sealed pit.

So, nowadays all meat that is cooked in a sealed parchment paper or in any such manner is called Kleftiko or Klephtiko. This chicken is wrapped in parchment paper and sealed with a thin rope and thus falls under this category. I can tell you that it was amazingly soft and burst with flavors, as all the juices from the chicken and all the liquids I added were surrounding the chicken and kept it very tender. Eventually, ten minutes under the broiler gave the layer of vegetables above the meat the necessary depth of flavor.

Chicken Kleftiko

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Ingredients

• Chicken Klephtiko
• Ingredients
• 3 chicken breast halves
• 70 gr. / 3 oz. of feta cheese per half breast, I used 210 gr. / 9 oz. in total
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• A bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup sweet wine per half breast, I used sweet wine of Samos, but any sweet wine is fine, 3/4 cup in total
• 3 tbsp olive oil per pocket
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano per half breast
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Instructions
2. Preheat oven to 200° C / 400° F.
3. Cut three pieces of parchment paper big enough to carry a half breast along with the vegetables and liquids and be able to seal it with a thin rope.
4. Take one half breast and place it on the parchment paper.
5. Repeat with the rest.
6. Salt and pepper them.
7. Add the 70 gr. / 3 oz. of feta cheese above each one of them.
8. Divide the vegetables equally among the three pockets starting with the tomato, after add the pepper, next the onion and finishing with the parsley.
9. Divide the sugar equally to all three of them.
10. Without pouring the wine and the olive oil and open as they are, squeeze them in a pan very close to each other.
11. Pour the wine and olive oil and seal them with the thin rope.
12. Spray the pockets with water and bake them at the lowest level of your oven for an hour.
13. Remove from the oven.
14. Open the pockets and place them under the broiler at the medium rack of your oven at 225° C / 437 ° F for about 10 minutes.
15. Now please pay attention, don’t leave the oven unattended as broiler has very high temperature and can burn your meal.
16. Remove and drain the liquids.
17. Place the liquids in a small pot and boil for five minutes.
18. You can thicken this sauce by whisking 1 tbsp of corn flour dissolved in 1 tbsp water into it.
19. Transfer them to a platter and serve pouring the sauce on top of them.

Divide the vegetables equally among the three pockets starting with the tomato, after add the pepper, next the onion and finishing with the parsley.

Divide the sugar equally to all three of them.

Without pouring the wine and the olive oil and open as they are, squeeze them in a pan very close to each other.

Pour the wine and olive oil and seal them with the thin rope.

Spray the pockets with water and bake them at the lowest level of your oven for an hour.

Remove from the oven.

Open the pockets and place them under the broiler at the medium rack of your oven at 225° C / 437 ° F for about 10 minutes.

Now please pay attention, don’t leave the oven unattended as broiler has very high temperature and can burn your meal.

Remove and drain the liquids.

Place the liquids in a small pot and boil for five minutes.

You can thicken this sauce by whisking 1 tbsp of corn flour dissolved in 1 tbsp water into it.

Transfer them to a platter and serve pouring the sauce on top of them.