Pollo en Escabeche - Saturday April 17, 2010

(Photo courtesy of Spanish Recipes: http://recipespicbypic.blogspot.com)

Had a friend over for dinner Saturday evening, and wanted to have as much food prepared in advance as possible. As the 2/3's of the kids don't really like spicy food, I hadn't had a chance to really try much in my newly purchased "The Cuisines of Spain" by Teresa Barrenchea (cover below) and this gave me a fine excuse.

As her Pollo en Escabeche recipe was pretty simple - and almost demanded a few hours of cooling and settling - this seemed like a good one to try out. Fast, simple and nothing really too exotic.

Escabeches are foods that fried or steamed, then cooked and/or simply stored in a brine. Obviously these come from the days before refrigeration. Apparently, you can cook/store just about anything this way, including partridge, quail, trout, sardines, mussels, prawns, etc. As most of these aren't available in Singapore, I opted for the chicken version here.

2-pound chicken cut into serving pieces (done at the market - so be sure to wash it thoroughly before cooking)
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, halved
2 bay leaves
10 black peppercorns
1 or 2 sprigs of rosemary
1 cup red or white wine vinegar
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon sweet pimenton or paprika (I used the latter)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Brown the chicken pieces in a big skillet, casserole, whatever - as long as it's big enough to hold all the chicken and allow the brine to cover it while cooking. Add everything else (which then constitute the "brine"). Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-60 mins, until the chicken is cooked.

Let it cool completely, then store in the brine at cool room temperature for a day or up to a week in the fridge. I kept mine in the fridge for about 4 hours to cool and then let it sit another 2 hours out to hit room temperature.

Verdict: Certainly easy enough too cook and everybody - including, surprisingly, all 3 kids the next day - really liked it. The most common comment was that there simple wasn't "enough" flavor and that it needed more salt. That's never really been a problem in out house, so I was a bit surprised by that, but it was fixed easily enough at the table.

Yes, I'd definitely make this again; but perhaps with a little more kick. A good, fresh paprika or pimenton would probably help on the flavoring front, so I'll experiment more next time around. Definitely a winner.