Iberian Chicken

 

Iberian Chicken, bow 😛

I haven’t been able to interview Ara about the source of this recipe since she was a couple of days from leaving for Bacolod when she gave me this recipe. And it was only after 2 months that I have attempted to make this. I’m regretting the wait because it is so damned good.

 

When I tried this at Ara’s party, I was on a diet and was not eating anything fried. Technically, the iberian chicken isn’t fried, but more of poached in oil. I’m not sure if that brings the calorie factor up or down. Little thing to thank for is the recipe calls for olive oil. It tasted really good when I tried it before, but maybe the dieting factor (how little I consumed of it that night) influenced me on the taste area. As a result, I think my chicken tasted better (since I ate a lot of it). 😛 Just kidding, ara. It tasted great, that’s why I asked for the recipe.

Raw chicken pieces, one whole chicken 🙂

 

The “iberia” in the recipe comes out with the flavors of the garlic and olive oil. It reminded me of all things Spanish like gambas, salpicao, etc. And that’s what the bulk of the recipe calls for. The recipe below is what Ara instructed. I will be discussing also the changes I did because of limitations (also knows as either laziness or cheapness).

Ate pines prepping garlic 😀

 

Original Iberian Chicken Recipe

3 tbsp chicken powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp rosemary
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup garlic- chopped finely
1 whole head garlic, separate cloves and peel
2 cups olive oil or 1 cup corn oil and 1 cup olive oil
1.2 kl whole chicken
300 gms marbled potatoes, sliced

Mixing the marinade

 

1. In a bowl combine chicken powder, pepper, sugar, rosemary, butter, garlic, olive oil. Mix thoroughly
2. In a roasting pan, marinate chicken with mixture above. (Rub marinade inside the skin of the chicken.) At least 3 hours or overnight.
3. Add sliced potatoes and garlic cloves around the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Roast in oven at low fire 300F or 150C. cover pan with aluminum foil for the first 40 mins then remove to brown chicken. Cook for 1 1/2 hour.
5. Serve chicken with roasted potatoes and roasted garlic from the pan.
*heat oven 20 min before putting in chicken.

THE CHANGES

Before cooking on the stove top

Domestic Urbanite’s Iberian Chicken Recipe (DU’s Iberian Chicken Recipe)

 

Change the chicken seasoning into two Knorr Chicken bouillon cubes and one Maggi Magic Sarap (sorry, I have no company loyalty). I did this because I don’t have any chicken powder. I also halved the oil because I thought it was too much. Instead of using whole chicken,I used cut up chicken pieces so that the marinade will surely penetrate the chicken, and for faster cooking. I marinated it for three hours, and decided that I’ll be cooking it on the stove top instead. I layered the cubed regular potato on the bottom of the pan, and poured the chicken and the marinade with it. I added the whole garlic too and added another half cup of oil. I let it boil and then let it simmer for an hour. I had to add salt to get the perfect flavor. Possibly the Magic Sarap and chicken bouillon does not have the same sodium as the chicken powder.

Another change I would do, or at least would have done is to fry the pieces lightly instead of just letting them simmer in the oil. A small amount of oil on the pan, then the chicken pieces in it, would have given it a better color. I ended shifting the potatoes up and the chicken down to the cooking surface to get it colored a bit. As soon as I placed the chicken properly, I cranked up the heat, and it provided a good color for the meat. But daaaamn. It was good.