Chef Isabel
Ànec amb Peres
Ànec amb peres is Catalan celebration cooking: duck braised in a dark sofregit, firm autumn pears added near the end, and an almond-garlic picada that turns the juices into a close, glossy sauce.
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Pollo al Ajillo Andaluz
Created by
Andalusian pollo al ajillo fries bone-in chicken deep gold, then finishes it with slowly browned garlic, bay and fino, leaving a sharp, glossy sauce made for bread.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Weeknight
Quick Meal
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr total
Yield4 servings
Pollo al ajillo Andaluz is chicken cooked directly in olive oil, plenty of garlic, bay and fino, the bone-dry wine of Jerez. There is no onion or tomato hiding underneath, and no flour thickening the pan. This is ajillo, a garlic-led method, and the Andalusian stamp comes from the local wine sharpening the rich chicken juices.
The garlic decides the dish. Cook the cloves slowly in the oil until they're pale honey-coloured, then lift them out before the heat goes up for the chicken. Leave them while the chicken browns and they'll turn dark and bitter, and bitter garlic cannot be repaired with more wine or wishful thinking. Return them only once the fino goes in, when liquid protects them and they soften into the sauce.
Fino or manzanilla gives the cleanest result. If neither reaches your shops, use a very dry white wine. The sauce will lose some of its saline, lightly nutty edge, but it will still be a proper garlic chicken if the oil is good and the garlic is treated gently. No hace falta haber pisado España, you don't need to have set foot in Spain.
Serve it straight from the pan with plain bread or fried potatoes, because leaving that garlic-scented oil behind would be foolish. The note in my Margin is short: brown the chicken without burning the garlic. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Pollo al ajillo belongs to the broad Iberian practice of cooking meat or fish in olive oil with a generous hand of garlic; the Andalusian version takes its local stamp from dry fino in the wine country of the Marco de Jerez. Fino develops beneath flor, a veil of yeast that leaves the wine bone-dry and lightly nutty, so it cuts through the chicken fat while carrying the garlic through the pan. This is household skillet cooking, traditionally served with bread because the reduced juices and garlic oil were never meant to be left behind.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
Quantity
1.4kg, about 8 pieces
patted thoroughly dry
fine sea salt
Quantity
14g
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
2g
garlic
Quantity
80g, about 18 large cloves
peeled and lightly crushed
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
120ml
bay leaves
Quantity
2
fresh thyme
Quantity
4 sprigs
fino de Jerez or manzanilla
Quantity
150ml
water
Quantity
100ml
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
10g
finely chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumstickspatted thoroughly dry | 1.4kg, about 8 pieces |
| fine sea salt | 14g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 2g |
| garlicpeeled and lightly crushed | 80g, about 18 large cloves |
| extra virgin olive oil | 120ml |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| fresh thyme | 4 sprigs |
| fino de Jerez or manzanilla | 150ml |
| water | 100ml |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 10g |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy frying pan with lid, about 30cm
- •Kitchen tongs
- •Wooden spoon
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Dry and season
Pat the chicken completely dry with kitchen paper. Season it evenly with the 14g salt and 2g pepper, then leave it for 10 minutes while you prepare the garlic. Dry skin browns; damp skin sticks and turns pale.
Use thighs and drumsticks of roughly equal size so they finish together. Bone-in chicken stays juicy while the wine reduces into the sauce. - 2
Sweeten the garlic
Put the olive oil, crushed garlic and bay leaves in a wide 30cm frying pan. Set it over medium-low heat and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, turning the cloves often, until they're softening and pale honey-coloured. Do not wait for dark brown. Lift the garlic and bay onto a plate, leaving the scented oil in the pan.
The garlic will colour a little more after it leaves the oil. Take it out one shade earlier than you think, because mahogany garlic tastes bitter. - 3
Brown the chicken
Raise the heat to medium-high. Lay half the chicken in the pan skin-side down, with space between the pieces. Cook without moving it for 6 to 7 minutes, until the skin is deep gold and releases cleanly, then turn and cook the second side for 3 minutes. Transfer it to a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken. If the pan crowds, the chicken steams in its juices instead of frying.
- 4
Deglaze with fino
Lower the heat to medium and return all the chicken, garlic, bay and thyme to the pan. Pour the fino around the chicken, not over the browned skin, and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon. Let it bubble briskly for 2 minutes so the raw alcoholic edge cooks away, leaving the dry wine and browned pan juices behind.
- 5
Braise and reduce
Add the 100ml water and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 12 minutes. Turn the pieces, uncover and cook for another 8 to 12 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the sauce has reduced to glossy garlic-scented juices with green-gold oil around the edges. The thickest piece must register at least 74°C away from the bone.
If the chicken is ready before the sauce, move it to a warm plate and boil the liquid for 2 or 3 minutes. The sauce should cling lightly, not become thick like gravy. - 6
Rest and serve
Remove the thyme stems and taste the sauce before adding anything. Scatter over the parsley and rest the chicken for 5 minutes in the pan, spooning the garlic and juices over it once. Serve with bread, fried potatoes or both. The bread is not decoration; it has work to do.
Chef Tips
- •Buy bone-in, skin-on thighs and drumsticks. Boneless breast cooks before the wine has time to reduce, leaving you with dry meat and a thin sauce.
- •Fino de Jerez is dry, pale and lightly nutty. Manzanilla from Sanlúcar is the nearest substitute and brings a slightly more saline edge. If neither is available, use the driest white wine you can find; the sauce will taste lighter and more fruity.
- •Use extra virgin olive oil that tastes fresh and clean, but save your most peppery bottle for dressing vegetables. This oil is heated and carries a great deal of garlic, so a dependable everyday oil is right.
- •Serve the same fino or manzanilla alongside, well chilled. A plain green salad and fried potatoes make the full meal without crowding the chicken.
- •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for up to 3 days. Reheat gently with 30ml water so the reduced sauce loosens without becoming salty.
Advance Preparation
- •Season the chicken up to 8 hours ahead and refrigerate it uncovered. The salt reaches the meat and the exposed skin dries, giving you better browning. Take it from the refrigerator 20 minutes before cooking.
- •The complete dish can be cooked one day ahead. Cool and refrigerate it in its sauce, then reheat covered over low heat with 30ml water. Add the parsley only after reheating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 270g)
Calories
785 calories
Total Fat
63 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
49 g
Cholesterol
245 mg
Sodium
1610 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
46 g
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