Pollo en salsa de ajo

I recently bought a cookbook called The Food of Spain . I realized that we had been in Spain for over two years now and I still didn't have a single book dedicated to Spanish cuisine. This cookbook is a good starting point with a compilation of recipes from several regions instead of just one dedicated to tapas or to Andalusia where we live. There are also a few interesting articles on specific Spanish food delicacies - e.g. jamon, churros.

Yesterday evening, I decided to do a Spanish-themed dinner and us eone of the recipes from the book for Pollo en Salsa de Ajo - a simple dish of chicken in garlic sauce that was very easy to make. Along with the chicken, I also had a morcilla de Burgos (blood sausage from Burgos) that we made into tapas-style bites as a starter. The blood sausages were excellent and the chicken in garlic sauce was tasty although I would spice it up with some freshly-ground dried chili.
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Pollo en salsa de ajo
(Chicken in garlic sauce) -serves 6

• 1 kg. (2lb., 4 oz.) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 Tbsp. sweet paprika
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 8 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 60 ml. (1/4 cup) Fino sherry
• 125 ml. (1/2 cup) chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley


• Trim any excess fat from the chicken, and cut the thighs into thirds. Combine the paprika with some salt and pepper in a bowl and add the chicken. Toss to coat.
• Heat half the olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat and cook the unpeeled garlic cloves for 1-2 minutes or until brown. Remove from the pan. Cook the chicken in batches for 5 minutes, or until brown all over.
• Return all the chicken to the pan, add the sherry and boil for 30 seconds, then add the 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. (*add a bit of coarse sea salt before crushing).
• Stir into the chicken, then cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender. Serve hot.