Skip to main content

Cooking Quest: Iberian Chicken

A cousin of mine asked me 'What makes chicken, Iberian?'

Oo nga, what makes chicken - Iberian?  I honestly had no idea!

It was YEARS ago, that I got introduced to this Iberian Chicken dish.  I remember it as if it was yesterday, we had dinner in Casa Armas along Jupiter - I honestly forgot the occassion, but I remember having their Iberian Chicken.  And since then, whenever we dined in Casa Armas, or any Spanish resto for that matter - I always look for and order, Iberian Chicken.

For the past month, I have been craving for this.  I called various restaurants only to find out that there's a minimum order.  And a minimum order meant it was good for at least 10!  Wahahaha...  So there, I google-d it.  I found (would you believe) only a handful of recipes?

So, tada!!




I followed THIS recipe but modified it a bit:

IBERIAN CHICKEN
1 pc. whole chicken (1.5 kilo) deboned
2 tbsp. whole fresh peppercorn, ground
12 heads garlic, peeled and pounded
2 tbsps. rock salt
8 to 10 pcs. Calamansi
15 pcs. lemon grass
1 pc. chicken cube dissolved in 1 cup boiled water
 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1.) Rub the chicken all over with the ROCK SALT and PEPPER.
2.) Rub with CALAMANSI JUICE, making sure to rub the inside cavity.
3.) Insert the LEMONGRASS into the cavity, together with some GARLIC.
4.) Pour the CHICKEN CUBE/HOT WATER mixture and OLIVE OIL on the chicken. Marinate overnight in an oven-proof platter.
5.) Preheat oven to 350F. Before baking, put peeled POTATOES in the platter, as well as the rest of the GARLIC. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 2 hours until tender.

The VERDICT:
Since I used a deboned chicken, our suki was able to give us one that had the skin intact.  I don't know how he did it, but imagine a whole chicken without the bones.  I didn't need to sew anything shut anymore!  I just placed the garlic (a ton of them) and insterted the lemongrass.  I think it exploded while it was baking because this is what happened.  I will use chicken with bones on my next try!  Hehehe..


The taste was a bit salty - I think the 2Tbsp Rock Salt was a bit too much.  I also think I put too much lemongrass - but hey it tasted great!  I think to tone down the lemongrass taste a bit, I think I would follow the original recipe's just 6 pcs.

Also, I omitted the potatoes.  To be honest, I forgot about them!  Hahaha...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Breastfeeding Mama!

"Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (July). For this month, we join the National Nutrition Council - Department of Health in celebrating Nutrition Month with the theme "Isulong ang Breastfeeding - Tama, Sapat at EKsklusibo!" Participants will share their experiences in promoting breastfeeding or their tips on how breastfeeding should be promoted. Please scroll down to the end of this post and check out the other carnival participants." When I got pregnant, I knew instantly that I would be breastfeeding my baby.  My mom found it odd that I decided to breastfeed - this was because I grew up formula fed.  My twin brother and I were given formula since birth, there was no attempt whatsoever to breastfeed.  In fact my mom recounted that she was given medicine to stop the milk production.  My pedia, Dr. Joy Ty-Sy said that during my mom's time (when she had us) it was the boom of formulas, that it was the trend that time.  I grew up with formula, my c

ANSON SUPERMARKET - Grocery delivery!!

Sharing is caring, so we can't keep it a secret any longer.  THIS is where we get out groceries!  Well, Anson Supermarket has been where we have been purchasing all of our kids' diapers!  From Kailee to Connor to Shobe!  Yes, yes, yes! A week into the lockdown, it just occurred to us that we can get our groceries from them - but then we thought, we didn't want to force them to do it - after all it's a different time now.  But when we asked and they said yes, it was like we won the lottery.  We sent out our list - a very VERY SPECIFIC list and voila after a day or two (we weren't in a rush) they told us to schedule a pick up.  Please remember that I am sharing this with you guys because I believe so much in the saying 'sharing is caring'.  Please be mindful of your language and respect those who will call or message you about your orders.  Also note that some items might NOT be available - so manage your expectations.   They're a full functioning

#CookingQuest: Winter Melon Soup ala Didi #EnhancedCommunity

One of the things that gets ooohs and aaaahs in a chinese restaurant is the #WinterMelonSoup.   You may ask why?  Well because with this soup, restaurants use the winter melon itself as a huge bowl to serve the soup!  It's a sight to see as you'll be amazed how they were able to pull it off.  You'll see the whole winter melon, and then suddenly they're take out the top part and when you peek in, the soup is inside together with meat bits and other veggies!  My mom has tried it at home, and I remember her being nervous that the winter melon doesn't break apart, kunde sira ang presentation! So during this #EnhancedCommunityQuarantine, I chanced upon Theo's Farm that they have winter melon, so I ordered.  When I saw it - I knew I wouldn't be able to pull off the carving and serving the winter melon.  It actually made the preparation easier.  I had to ask my mom, and she told me to steam the winter melon to soften it.  Honestly, I don't think I can w