poultry - chicken, orange, wine, bake, recipe
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon
These recipes are for your personal use only and may not be added in any form to archives other works.
Pollo Azahar
(Chicken Azahar)
Living on the Costa del Azahar (Orange Blossom Coast - between Barcelona and
Valencia) on the Spanish Mediterranean has inspired me to the following recipe.
The muscatel wine is not to be substituted! (Azahar=ah zah HAR)
serves 2 generously
preheat oven to 200°C
bake for ca. 40 to 45 minutes
2 chicken legs
with thighs
sm. glass dry white wine
sm. glass muscatel wine
juice of one untreated orange plus half of it’s zest
1 sm. to med. onion, sliced thinly
2 large sprigs of fresh lemon thyme (or common thyme)
1 lg. garlic clove
+- 1 T. herbal salt
pepper
olive oil
Rub the cleaned chicken legs with herbal salt and pepper and set aside. In a
skillet, sauté the onion for a few minutes before adding the crushed garlic.
Carve away the white pith of the orange, leaving the orange zest. Slice the zest
very thinly, add to the juice (with pulp) and the white wine and simmer gently
reduce to one third. Add the muscatel and simmer for one minute more.
Arrange the legs, meaty side down and pour the sauce over all. Tuck the sprigs
under the chicken. Cover loosely with aluminium and bake. Remove the cover after
15 minutes and baste. Allow to bake 10 minutes more. Turn chicken and allow to
brown for the rest of the baking time. Baste occasionally.
I served this with just a baguette to soak up the sauce and a Spanish Peñedes
medium sweet white wine but a not too dry white or rosé suits it as well. A
mixed green salad is a good accompaniment. Fresh pasta tossed in the sauce is
also delicious! Remove the zest if you prefer, however, I savour the taste of
it! (Or just toss the pasta in a little heated cream, grated pepper and a
little nutmeg and a few tablespoons of fresh grated Parmesan cheese - not enough
to make a sauce but enough to moisten it nicely. The flavours will not
dominate but combine well with the flavours of this dish.)
Note: If the sauce has reduced through the baking, remove the chicken when done
to the warmed plates and add more wine. Simmer for a few minutes to release the
alcohol.
All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be
added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.
The Epicurean Table © 1999-2002 Patricia Conant