Chicken in a White Wine and Tomato Braise

I was just saying this morning that for someone who loves to cook as much as I, it is ridiculous how many evenings I am rifling through my freezer at the very last second trying to decide what to have for dinner.  The funny thing is that (most of the time) my favorite meals are as a result of ideas born from pantry ingredients.  Those dishes that require a special trip to the supermarket to purchase a bunch of rarely used ingredients that takes all day to prepare and all night to clean up have their place, especially on a cold and snowy day, but the satisfaction derived from enjoying a fabulous meal prepared from items effortless combined can't be beat.  Here is one the easiest and tastiest dinner's I have had in quite some time and a meal that I created on the fly yesterday evening from chicken legs and thighs that I already had in the freezer, a bit of left over white wine, a can of tomato paste, some onions and garlic and few sprigs of fresh rosemary from the garden.    

Chicken in a White Wine and Tomato Braise
Chicken pieces, bone in and skin on
flour, 1/2 cup should be sufficient
butter, 2 tablespoons
olive oil, 1/4 cup
1/4 cup Brandy

1 cup white wine

3/4 can tomato paste

1 onion, cut into eighths

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 cup water

sprigs of fresh rosemary

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large high sided skillet, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Lightly coat chicken pieces with flour and brown in the butter and olive oil.  Turn off burner, pour over Brandy and, carefully, ignite the pan allowing the alcohol burn off.  Once the flame has disappeared, remove the chicken pieces to plate.  Turn the burner back on to a medium flame and add the onions and garlic cloves and let them saute for several minutes.  Next, add the tomato paste and stir to incorporate into the onions and garlic.  Deglaze the pan with approximately 1 cup of white wine and an additional cup of water.  Add the chicken back to the pan with any accumulated juices.  Tuck in several sprigs of fresh rosemary in and around the chicken and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Cover and place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes.  Uncover and cook an addition 20 minutes to thicken the sauce and brown the tops of the chicken.  Serve hot over fluffy white rice or pasta.