Chicken in Garlic Sauce - Pollo al Ajillo

Garlic chicken, originally uploaded by Kim De.

Although I am in the fortunate position to not have a job outside the home at this time, I did for all my adult life until very recently. When I wasnt getting home from work until six or after, It was very important to me to have meals that could be cooked very quickly. Along with that, however, it was important to me that these meals taste great, and also be healthy.

This dish would fit all those criteria! Recently I started cooking recipes from Daisy Martinez. She uses bold ingredients that dont require a lot of fat to taste good.
This recipe caught my eye, because it has garlic in the title. If there is garlic in the title, I'm pretty sure I will love it! Steam some rice while the chicken cooks, saute a bit of spinach and you have a great tasting meal! The aroma of the garlic cooking will make you hungry if you werent all ready!!


Chicken in Garlic Sauce - Pollo al Ajillo (Adapted from Daisy Martinez)

12 large chicken thighs (about 4 pounds; see Note)
Fine sea or kosher salt
1/4 cup canola oil
10 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup chicken broth, homemade or canned

Wash the chicken thighs and pat them dry with paper towels. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add as many of the chicken thighs, skin side down, as will fit without touching.

Cook until the skin is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 5 minutes more.

Remove the pan from the heat and spoon off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat, leaving all the lovely brown bits behind. Return the pan to low heat, stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until the garlic starts to turn golden, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the sherry, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Let it boil a minute or 2, then return the chicken to the pan skin side up. Reduce the heat to low, pour in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan tightly and cook 20 minutes. Flip the chicken pieces (or rotate them top to bottom if using a smaller pan) and cook until the chicken is very tender, about 20 minutes. Serve hot.