Chicken browned in a flood of oil and whole garlic cloves, then deglazed with wine until the pan smells like a tavern. You eat the garlic, skins and all if you left them on. It is weekday cooking with a bar's confidence.
The dish has no single region — Castile, Andalusia, Madrid bars all claim it — and needs none. Chicken cut small, a dozen cloves, bay, a dried chile, and fino or white wine to lift the fond. The oil is part of the sauce.
Serve with bread, which is not optional. A Rioja Crianza. Uncover the cazuela at the end if the juices have not reduced to a gloss. Don't pour the oil off; you want it.
Method
- 01
Pat the chicken pieces thoroughly dry and salt them well. Heat the oil in a wide cazuela until it shimmers, then brown the chicken on all sides — take your time, and don't crowd the pan, or you'll steam instead of brown. Lift the pieces out as they color. You want a deep golden crust; that's the fond the wine will lift later.
- 02
In the same oil, fry the smashed garlic cloves and the chile until the peeled cloves are gold and fragrant. Half of them still have their skins on, and you'll eat those too — skins and all, that's the custom. Return the chicken to the pan with the bay leaves. The cazuela should already smell like a tavern, which is exactly the point.
- 03
Pour in the wine, scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom, and cover. Cook over medium-low heat until the chicken is tender and the juices have reduced to a glossy sauce, about 25 minutes. Lift the lid now and then to make sure nothing is catching. The oil is part of the sauce; don't pour it off.
- 04
Uncover for the last few minutes if the sauce is still thin — you want a gloss, not a soup. Scatter with the chopped parsley and serve with plenty of bread, which is not optional. Mop the cazuela clean. A Rioja Crianza beside it, and this is weekday cooking with a bar's confidence.
