#7: Pollo al Ajo

What's for lunch mom?


It's gonna be Pollo al Ajo and Buttered Vegetables. *wink*


Naaaks!


Just saying the name makes you feel like a hotel chef. Remember my post when I said I'll share a recipe that involves chicken, garlic and ginger but it is not tinola? Well, here it is. I learned this dish from a bargain bookstore recipe book. It turned to be a very tasty dish! We have another featured ingredient here that will spell the difference and make an ordinary P50 chicken dish taste like P250. ;-) It's time to try THYME! It is an herb that has a fresh minty, woody bouquet or scent. The dried variety of these little leaves is so potent that a little goes a long way. 

Pollo Al Ajo

The fantastic picture is from Cocina.org. :-)

Featured Ingredient: Dried Thyme
Sosy Level: 4 (especially with the Buttered Veggies!)
Pawis Level: 1 (unbelievably easy, friends)


Ingredients:
1/2 kilo of chicken breast, skin on 
3 tbsps butter or margarine
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsps ginger, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 pc siling haba (finger chili), minced (For a milder flavor, take out the seeds first.)
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper


How to:
1. Stick your finger under the skin of the chicken to separate it from the flesh. This way, you'll make a pocket under the skin. Be careful not to break it ok? Season chicken with a bit of salt and pepper. 


2. Just mix all ingredients together except the chicken.


3. When you have made a paste, stuff it under the skin of the chicken. Try to make your stuffing as distributed and even as possible.


4. Place chicken in an aluminum pan or any shallow,oven-safe dish. Pop it in a 200C pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Turn off oven and let it stand for 15 minutes more.


Tips:
Chicken Breasts 
You can buy them with the bones and just fillet it yourself, or if you're lazy, just keep the bones on. You can also use chicken thighs and legs if you want. Besides, so long as it tastes fantastic, it will not matter much anymore. :-)


Bread Crumbs
Do you know that you can easily use ground crackers for this? Sky Flakes, Magic Flakes, what have you. In fact, it will even taste better if you use crackers. Just buy one in the sari-sari store, pound them with your preferred instrument of violence (hahaha!) and you have dry bread crumbs. You may also use tasty bread and run it in the toaster for 2 minutes or stove (if you don't have a toaster). Grate it in the cheese grater and you already have bread crumbs!


You'll know that the chicken is ready because this dish gives off a wonderful aroma when cooked. Serve it with warm steamed rice and Spicy Buttered Vegetables. I paired these two because this chicken dish doesn't have much color or vegetables so this ultra-simple vegetable dish will give the necessary pizzaz to your dinner table. Don't worry, I will post the recipe a few days from now. I'm sure you can wait a bit more right? ;-)


(Don't have an oven? Learn how to use the oven toaster instead by clicking here!)