Spanish Chicken with Olives and Wine

This dish was modified from an original recipe that was acquired by Katherine Ottesen, my mother while on vacation in Spain. She barged into the kitchen and refused to leave unless they shared the recipe. It is bursting with solid Mediterranean flavors. It is a whole meal, easy to prepare and cooks in one hour. All that is needed is good bread to make the meal complete although we usually serve it over steamed white or brown jasmine rice.

1 Chicken, cut up or legs, thighs, and wings (4 pounds)

1 large can of pitted black Californian olives (may also want to consider half and half with green olives as a variation.)

4 Vine ripened large tomatoes, quartered in wedges

2 Green bell peppers, sectioned into 1/2 slices, seeded and stemmed.

(or 1 green bell pepper and 1 yellow bell pepper, etc.)

1 Cup of dry white wine

2 Cloves of crushed garlic

1 Large yellow onion, peeled, coarsely sliced

2 tablespoons best cold pressed olive oil (i.e. best virgin olive oil rich in flavor)

1 tablespoon sweet butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Smoky Spanish paprika (pimentón) to taste (optional)

Cut up chicken into pieces, sauté at 350 (medium) in butter and oil in a large skillet (equipped with a lid) until lightly golden brown. (Drain of excess oil.) Add pepper and a little salt. Add wine, garlic, then cover the chicken with all the other ingredients. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook one hour. Toward the end of the hour look at the liquid level. Partially crack the lid to allow the sauces to thicken somewhat – not absolutely necessary but a thicker sauce will help concentrate the flavors. When done, taste the sauce and correct the salt as required. Also add Spanish paprika optionally. (You may choose to remove the vegetables and chicken from the pan so you may turn up the heat to thicken the sauce by driving away excess moisture; in this case, platter the chicken and vegetables and pour over the thickened sauce.) Serve either with fresh Italian Bread or steamed rice or both.

Enhancing Savory and Flavor

Glutamate (the Umami taste) has a long history in cooking. Fermented fish sauces, rich in glutamate, were already used in ancient Rome.

Some sauces, ferments, condiments are similar and maybe used together or individually regardless of their country of origin. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a form of an amino acid called glutamic acid is used in many Asian cultures as a flavor enhancer. While people are quick to point out MSG still has salt, using some MSG reduces the amount of salt needed for the same level of salty taste by 40%. Monosodium glutamate used to be produced by a process involving wheat and formerly was not gluten free giving rise to the urban legend that MSG gives people stomach problems eating at Chinese restaurants. At this point, international and national bodies for the safety of food additives consider MSG safe for human consumption as a flavor enhancer. Aged cheese are high in both glutamate and sodium, so they deliver many of the same delicious effects, without the MSG. Parmigiano-Reggiano is a prime example.

Many of these sauces and condiments are salty as umami is enhanced with salt. Salt varies considerable in many of these products just look at the range seen in types of soy sauce.

Salt in Commercial Sauces

Seasoning or Sauce	Teaspoon
Chinese Maggi Seasoning Sauce	400
European Maggi Seasoning Sauce (from an extract of corn gluten and soy protein mixed with water)	480
Thai Golden Mountain Sauce similar to Maggi. Uses two flavor enhancers but no MSG. The flavor enhancer disodium guanylate is, according to Wikipedia, "produced from dried fish or dried seaweed" to create the taste of umami.	420
Bragg’s Liquid Aminos	320
Knorr Liquid Seasoning	410
Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce	10
Lee and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (Anchovy Sauce)	10
Soy sauce made from soy and wheat (tamari)	330
Low Sodium Soy Sauce Kikkoman	173
Black Soy	170
Mushroom Soy	430

Here are some of my commonly used seasoner in my kitchen. (If only I had a bigger kitchen sigh...)

In this picture, left to right, Chinkiang Black Rice Vinegar (a characteristic smoky flavor), Black Soy, Tamari Soy, Kitchen Bouquet, Marin (sweet rice wine), seasoned rice vinegar, brown rice vinegar, Mushroom Soy. When buying these, generally the more it costs the better it is. The best brown rice vinegar from Japan is rare and expensive as 100 year old balsamic,and usually taken as a health tonic. Brown and black vinegars have high concentration of essential amino acid. Medical researchers now believe it is the amino acids present in vinegar that are partly responsible for its medicinal effects.

Common flavor enhancers include fish sauces, shrimp sauce, tomato paste, shrimp paste, bean paste, vegetable pastes, dried shrimp, soy sauce, Nestlé Maggi seasoning sauce, oyster sauce, dried  mushroom, amino acid products, vinegars, wine, sherry, port, brandies, onion family vegetables including garlic, broths, stocks, demi-glace, fruit pastes, meat extract, cheese, and ground nuts. Nestlé Maggi seasoning sauce is a dark-colored, vegetable protein-based sauce that is different depending in which country it being sold. Kitchen Bouquet is a browning and seasoning sauce primarily composed of caramel with vegetable flavorings made in the US and first shown in Europe exhibit at the Paris Exposition of 1889.

A good example of a wide mix of flavors is the recipe for my steak sauce. My recipe uses tamarind paste, orange rind, raisins, lime, Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, peppers, onions, herbs, spices and vinegar. (See my cookbook page) It shows a complexity but a complimentary result.

Reductions sauces are prime candidates for complex flavor enhancers. For a great steak or chop I often make a reduction that is flavored with red wine, dried mushrooms (prefer porcini), some type vinegar or balsamic, maybe port, herbs, shallots and a demi-glace or stock. A hint of Worcestershire Sauce, tomato paste or some other sauce may also be used. These reductions are easy to make and are not expensive and the result is a high quality gourmet experience.

Gong Bao Ji Ding (Kung Pao Chicken)

This Sichuan dish may well be the world's most popular Chinese dish. It is also one of the few Chinese dishes that have largely remained authentic worldwide. A blend hot, sweet and sour - this delightful chicken dish is also quick to prepare. The chicken slices easier if it is slightly frozen.

5~6 Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into thin bite sized pieces

3 Cloves of garlic, minced finely

1 Tablespoon finely minced peeled ginger

10 scallion, sliced on the diagonal into 1 inch lengths

2 Tablespoons peanut oil

Handful of whole dried red chilies (show courage)

1 Teaspoon toasted ground Sichuan peppers added just before serving

2/3 Cup toasted peanuts

For the marinade:

2 Teaspoon Tamari soy sauce

1 Teaspoon sweet rice wine or Shaoxing wine or dry sherry

1½ Teaspoon cornstarch

1 Teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar

1 Tablespoon water

For the sauce:

2 Teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 Teaspoon cornstarch

1 Teaspoon Mushroom soy sauce

1 Teaspoon Tamari soy sauce

2 Teaspoon Chinkiang (Black rice vinegar) or seasoned rice vinegar

1 Teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 Teaspoon Marin

1 Tablespoon chicken stock or water

Pick out any black seeds and stems from a tablespoon of Sichuan pepper berries and discard.(It’s just the hulls we grind.) Heat a small pan until hot and toast pepper hulls until fragrant (30 seconds or so). Turn out into a mortar or grinder. Grind into a not too course grind. Set aside.

Prepare garlic, ginger, and scallions. Assemble the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

Cut the chicken into thin bite sized pieces. Thin strips cook quickly and maintain tenderness when flash cooked in a hot wok. Add the marinade ingredients and stir in the chicken pieces. Let marinate 15 minutes.
Into a hot wok, add peanut oil and then toss the chilies until fragrant. Add and stir-fry chicken for several minutes until nearly fully cooked. Now add the ginger, garlic, and spring onions and stir-fry another minute. Stir the bowl of sauce ingredient then add to wok. Thicken the sauce then add peanuts. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with ground Sichuan peppers. Serve immediately.

Notes:

1.       Sichuan (Schezuan) Pepper aka Prickly Ash - This pepper is not actually a member the pepper family. It has a unique aroma and flavor that is neither hot nor pungent; rather it has lemony flavor and creates a tingly numbness in the mouth that enhances chilies usually used with it. Only the outer husks are used; the shiny black seeds are discarded as they have a hard gritty sand-like texture. Husks are stemmed then toasted before mortared or ground then added to the dish just before serving. Sichuan pepper are one of the traditional ingredients in the Chinese spice mixture five-spice powder and also Japanese shichimi togarashi, a seven ingredient seasoning often found as a shaker on the condiment tray of your Asian noodle shop. Shichimi togarashi is made typically with equal parts each of ground red chilies and ground sansho (berries of the prickly ash tree related to Sichuan pepper) plus one portion each of the following: dried orange or yuzu peel, black sesame, white sesame, ginger, and nori flakes. Due to their lemony undertones, this pepper works well with duck, chicken and fish. Sichuan culinary history reaches all the way back to the Ba and Shu kingdoms in the 21st to 5th centuries BC. During the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), a 50 volume cookbook was published. Despite its reputation to the contrary, not all Sichuan food is red-hot. Of the eight major culinary cuisines in China, Sichuan cuisine is perhaps the most popular throughout the country and across the world.

 

Sichuan (Schezuan) Pepper aka Prickly Ash