Chicken in Garlic Sauce

My first attempt at Spanish cuisine is the Chicken in Garlic Sauce. Let me tell you, it was so delicious! The best chicken I've ever had (and I've tried a few)! It was so tender and juicy, and the sherry really added so much flavor in the sauce. When I was looking at the picture in the book, it looked as though tomato sauce was added; in actuality it's just all the paprika that gave it that reddish color. I really liked how the garlic was toasted then mixed in with the parsley afterwards. It was added when the chicken was almost done. It's a very nice touch; it doesn't allow the garlic to cook and eventually melt away if it was added early on. Adding it last allows the flavors of the garlic to sustain throughout the dish even after it's removed from the heat. And the Spanish sure do love their parsley. It pairs well with the garlic--well, anything with garlic pairs well! I made rice pilaf with parsley to go along with the chicken. Very simple to make: long grain rice, chicken broth, and parsley. The ratio of liquid to rice is 2 : 1 and I mixed in fresh chopped parsley at the end when the rice was already cooked.

The one thing I did do differently was I minced the garlic, cooked it for a little bit, then removed it from the olive oil. The recipe calls for leaving the skin on when you cook the garlic. I see the point in this in that it's similar to roasting garlic in the oven. The garlic skin will allow the garlic to soften without burning it and also flavor the oil. But needless to to say it still turned out well if you peel, slice, and cook the garlic instead of simply cooking the garlic with the skin on. Although next time I make this dish, I won't remove the skin.

 

Here's a look at the progressive steps towards the end result of delicious chicken in garlic sauce. MmmMMmmmMmm

Recipe for Chicken in Garlic Sauce 

courtesy of The Food of Spain: a journey for food lovers. by Vicky Harris and John Newton.

Ingredients:
2 lb of boneless, skinless chicken thighs*
1 tbsp sweet paprika* pimenton
2 tbsp olive oil
8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/4 cup of fine sherry (cooking sherry also works)
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1 bat leaf
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
------------------------------------------------
Trim and excess fat and skin from the chicken. Combine the paprika with some salt and pepper in a bowl then add the chicken and toss to coat. Rub the chicken with the spices.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, then add the garlic cloves and let it cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan and add the chicken in batches (if your pan is not big enough) and cook for 5 minutes or until both sides are brown all over. Return the chicken to the pan and add the sherry, chicken stock, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, over low heat for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile squeeze the garlic pulp from their skins and pound with the parsley into a paste using a mortar and pestle or a small bowl and the back of a spoon. Stir into the chicken, then cover and cook for ten minutes, or until tender. Serve hot.

*Sweet paprika is Spanish paprika and is roasted. You can purchase this from the grocery store, but it is a little pricey. I used regular paprika and the flavors still meshed very well.  

*You don't have to buy the chicken skinless, boneless. I actually think it's better to leave the bone in because it adds so much flavor. I did remove the skin, which is very simple to do. So I recommend buying chicken with bone in.

Eat, eat, and EAT!