Pollo Al Ajillo | Photo by Ester Aires ()
Personally, one of the biggest benefits of living in Europe is having access to an amazing variety of food choices made with truly authentic recipes and local ingredients. And this year I had a privilege to meet a Spanish native chef Ester Aires, who currently runs Spanish tapas catering company and Spanish language and cooking courses in Wiesbaden, Germany. Originally from Barcelona, Ester is a Spanish professor by trade but have always been passionate about cooking from a young age as she grew up cooking with her mother. And now she spends her vacation days traveling to different regions of Spain to taste and perfect the traditional recipes to teach others.
Chef Ester Aires | Photo by Kalli Jihee Yoon
So after hearing about her true foodie vacations that mostly left me filled with envy, I had to take her tapas course to live through her experiences. And on one Saturday afternoon, a group of friends and I got together and invited Ester to educate us on Spanish cooking. And boy, oh boy! It was one of the most memorable cooking courses I’ve ever taken. Her instructions were simple and easy to follow but very detailed so the flavors really came through in the finished dish. Not to mention, her selection of salsa music playing in the background set the tone of the course: passionate and upbeat.
I could go on and on about my experience but enough of me gushing over this wonderful chef and let me share one of her recipes so you can try it for yourself at home to pair with a glass of cold beer or dry rose wine. The recipe calls for 8 portions but I highly recommend making the whole recipe for two reasons: 1. This is a tapas dish, which means that each portion is small. 2. Make sure you have leftovers for the next day to warm it up and serve with cooked pasta for a whole new pasta dish. Try and you’ll thank me later.
Pollo al ajillo
Portion: 8 servings
Cooking Time: Appx. 2 hours
Ingredients
8 pieces of chicken drumsticks, skins removed (preferably corn-fed chicken)
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 bundle of fresh parsley
½ cup of good olive oil
⅔ cup of Manzanilla wine
Salt & pepper
Instructions
1. Fry the garlic cloves in olive oil over medium heat until they are lightly browned, remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Fry chicken drumsticks in this oil until golden brown.
3. Put the garlic back into the pan and finely chopped parsley with Manzanilla wine.
4. Reduce temperature to low and cover with lid to simmer for approx. 20 min.
5. Fill the chicken drumsticks in a hot casserole dish, top it with the oil from the pan and sprinkle with a little parsley and serve. Good for storage up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Pro tip: Manzanilla wine can be found at HIT supermarket or Metro.
For more information on catering or tapas course, contact Ester Aires.
