Spanish Garlic Chicken or Pollo Al Ajillo
From jencathen 15 years ago
- 45 minutes to make
- Serves 4
According to "The New Spanish Table": What fried chicken is to the American South, pollo al ajillo is to central Spain. And as with fried chicken, arguments over how to make it best never end. The only consensus is the pollo al ajillo is best with french fries and a cool, frosty glass of beer.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken (about 3 1/2 lb), cut into 16 to 18 pieces of roughly equal size, rinse, patted dry, and trimmed of all fat.--Have the butcher help you out, If you don't have a butcher, substitute 2 1/2 lbs of boneless chicken thighs. shopping list
- Kosher or sea salt shopping list
- olive oil, for frying shopping list
- all-purpose flour, for dusting the chicken, plus 1 tsp for the sauce shopping list
- 12 whole unpeeled medium size garlic cloves, lightly smashed, and 10 large garlic gloves sliced shopping list
- 1/2 dried small red chile, such as arbol, crumbled shopping list
- 2/3 cup dry white wine shopping list
- 1/3 cup chicken stock or broth shopping list
- 2 tsp best quality red wine vinegar or more to taste shopping list
- 3 TBSP minced fresh flat leaf or Italian parsley shopping list
How to make it
- Place the chicken in a bowl and rub it generously with salt. Let stand for 30 minutes.
- Pour olive oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a heavy oven proof 12 inch skillet and heat it over medium high heat until almost smoking.
- Lightly dust the chicken pieces with flour, shaking off the excess.
- Add the 12 whole garlic cloves to the skillet and stir to coat with the oil, 1 minute.
- Working in two batches, cook the chicken until somewhat crisp and richly browned all over, 8 to 10 minutes per batch, adjusting the heat so that the oil doesn't burn.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the browned chicken pieces to a 12 inch earthenware cazuela or a baking dish of similar size.
- Discard the whole garlic cloves. If the oil doesn't seem clean enough, pour if off, wipe the skillet, and add 2 to 3 tbsp fresh olive oil. If the cooking oil seems fine, pour off all but 3 TBSP of it.
- Heat the skillet over low heat, add the 10 sliced garlic cloves, and cook until very fragrant and just beginning to color, about 2 minutes.
- Add the chile and stir for a few seconds.
- Add the 1 tsp flour and stir for about 20 seconds.
- Add the wine and chicken stock and bring to a boil., stirring.
- Season the sauce with salt to taste and pour it over the chicken.
- Bake the chicken until its cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the vinegar and parsley, coating the chicken evenly with the sauce, and serve.
The Rating
Reviewed by 5 people-
Sounds wonderful - thanks again!
lunasea
in Orlando loved it
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Nice recipe, I suggest to don't use the last vinegar step as it will overlay the chicken flavour.
The potatoes for this disch are better fried as chips than frenchie style.
Have a nice time
penmig
in loved it
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