Conejo al Ajillo

Conejo al ajillo is Castilla-La Mancha country cooking: jointed rabbit browned in olive oil, then simmered with a whole head of garlic, bay and dry white wine until the juices reduce to a glossy sauce. La Mancha has other rabbit dishes, with tomato, peppers, or rice, but this one keeps the sauce golden and the garlic in charge. Bread belongs beside it, because leaving that sauce in the pan would be foolish.

The browning decides it. I dry the pieces well, give them room, and let every side take a dark golden crust before the wine enters. Crowd the pan and the rabbit releases water, goes grey, and leaves the sauce thin. Fry the garlic only to pale gold and lift it out while the rabbit browns, then return it for the gentle braise. A whole head becomes sweet and soft this way, not scorched and bitter.

No rabbit where you are? Use bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks. The dish then becomes pollo al ajillo, another proper home dish, with richer meat and more fat in the sauce. No hace falta haber pisado España, you don't need to have set foot in Spain. The Margin beside mine says, do not hurry the colour. Siempre sale, si lo sigues, it turns out if you follow it.