Pepitoria-style chicken

Chicken in pepitoria is a recipe you will surely enjoy at home. Pepitoria consists of cooking the meat enriched with hard‑boiled egg yolk and ground almonds. This combination is absolutely delicious when you also bathe the chicken with a little stock and wine and let it simmer. It’s a very easy recipe to follow brought to us by Carmen (Yerbabuena en la cocina) exactly as family tradition taught her. Enjoy!

Chicken in pepitoria is a recipe tied to our tradition. Although its origin is not known for certain, popular belief attributes it to the cuisine of Al-Ándalus because of its way of preparing poultry, although some claim that the term "pepitoria" refers to petit-oie, meaning small goose, which clearly points to its French origin.

Whatever its origin, the fact is that this dish has been present for many generations in Spain. In my home my mother used to prepare it quite often for the enjoyment of all her children and later grandchildren, since we all loved it.

I have tried to be as faithful as possible to the recipe I learned from my mother, although on this occasion instead of using a cut-up chicken I chose to use the drumsticks, a much juicier option. I still remember when I was a child, at home there were always disputes with my five siblings over getting those prized pieces.

Chicken in pepitoria involves no difficulty in its preparation. Also, since cocottes entered my home, I enjoy cooking more and more for the pleasure of it, without hurry, without stress, over low heat, recovering the flavors of the past. I hope you feel encouraged to make it!

Low cocotte Shallow Casserole Le Creuset

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ Kg chicken drumsticks
• 1 onion
• 2 eggs
• 50gr raw blanched and peeled almonds
• A few saffron threads
• Flour for coating
• 100ml white wine
• 200ml chicken stock
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Trilloliva virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of La Tourangelle almond oil

PREPARATION

1. Put a base of Trilloliva virgin olive oil in our casserole iron and heat over medium heat.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat with the flour, shaking off the excess.
3. When the oil is hot fry the chicken in not-too-large batches until it begins to take on a bit of golden color. Remove and set aside.
4. Boil the eggs for ten minutes in a small pot with boiling salted water. In parallel, toast the almonds in a pan with a teaspoon of almond oil.
5. We remove the excess oil from frying the chicken, leaving just enough to cover the bottom of the casserole, and gently sauté the onion previously cut into brunoise and the garlic cloves whole.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the paste. For this, put the toasted almonds, the saffron and the yolks of the boiled eggs in a mortar, reserving half a yolk for garnish. Crush until you have a paste.
7. When the onion is translucent, remove the garlic and add the reserved chicken, the wine and the contents of the mortar and let cook a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol.
8. Then add the chicken stock and cook over medium heat for 35 minutes or until you see the drumsticks are tender.
9. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and garnish with the chopped whites and the half yolk.

Le Creuset low iron cocotte, Emile Henry ceramic mortar and Le Creuset salt and pepper mills

NOTES

• You can use a whole chicken cut up instead of the drumsticks. What I do recommend is removing the skin to avoid excess fat.
• When toasting the almonds it’s ideal to use a teaspoon of La Tourangelle almond oil, as it adds an extra delicious touch.