Pollo al Chilindron

Pollo al Chilindron is a Spanish stewed chicken dish.  It's vital to use dark meat chicken because of the long stewing process. Normally I don't eat dark meat but it turned out well even though I removed the skin and trimmed a lot of the fat.  Obviously if the added fat doesn't bother you it can be left on.

The chicken is browned in a generous amount of olive oil then removed from the pan.  Diced onion and bell pepper are added and cooked until soft.  Next add garlic and diced ham (the ham should be smokey and cut into small pieces).  Next the key ingredient is added, smoked paprika.  I special order paprika about once a year because the stuff they sell at the grocery bears no resemblance to the real thing.

After the paprika is added, remove from the heat and stir in white wine and 2 grated tomatoes.  The chicken is added back to the mixture and simmered for 30-40 minutes.

Quick Bread

I found this recipe for a Quick Bread; it's very interesting and can be cooked quickly (as the name suggest) without any rise or prep time.  It's somewhat like a Moroccan flat bread or other middle eastern style flat breads; it's easy to make and useful in a pinch.

1.5 cup Flour

1 cup Water

1 tsp. Baking Powder

pinch of salt

You stir the mixture to a paste and then heat a small non-stick pan with a bit of olive oil.  Put the mixture straight into the pan- add a couple of drops of water to the outside of the mixture (that will help it steam) and cover.

Cook it for about 10 minute, flip and cook for another 5-10 minutes.  It should come out golden brown (a little less brown than mine came out)

The recipe could definitely be augmented by adding shallots, garlic or herbs to the mixture.  

Chicken Scallopini

Chicken Scallopini - The Chicken is dredged in flour and pan sautéed.  The sauce is made by sautéing mushrooms and shallots; deglazed with white wine and finished with a bit of cream and topped with parmesan.