This Spanish chicken with whisky sauce with a contrapunto flair features one of my favourite sauces; an authentic whisky sauce in the Iberian tradition. The rest of it is pretty good too. So what are you just doing standing there?
Lady of Spain
My current preoccupation with an Iberian-Caledonian axis when it comes to food probably has a lot to do with an older dish attributed to the Spanish Armada. But that dish I will cook at a later point. For a start, it requires at least four carnivore diners.
This little invention of mine, Spanish chicken with whisky sauce, however, looks in the same direction. Spain in the 18th century was not only key in terms of providing Scottish nobles with the best barrels for their whisky, but there was a veritable "chatter on the wire" between the two locations and it was in this period that we first encounter "whisky sauce" appearing in Spanish cuisine.
This is my take on it this week; a low-maintenance recipe you can knock up in less than an hour that nonetheless drills down to a backbone of flavour that is far older.
Okay, so I agree that Spanish cuisine isn't always wild on the spicier flavours also found in this dish. So blame her New World activities...
This recipe is for two adult diners. Get out the abacus if you're struggling to convert the ingredient quantities.
Shopping list
for Spanish chicken with whisky sauce
1 large skinless chicken breast per diner
Small new potatoes, scrubbed with the skin on; about 5 or 6 per diner
Approx. 2 rashers of unsmoked bacon per diner
3 cloves of garlic; finely grated
2 tbspns tomato purée
A handful of flat leaf parsley; very finely chopped
Approx. 6 tbspns extra virgin olive oil
3 or 4 finely chopped hot red chillies
2 shots of whisky (it doesn't have to be a good single malt but I really mean "whisky"; not bourbon, rye whiskey nor anything that hopes to be whisky. Sláinte!)
Approx. 75 to 100 ml single cream
1 cup of vegetable stock; or the equivalent diluted from a jelly/cube
6 large stems of celery cut into large segments; rustic-style
¾ cup of cooked white beans; ideally butter beans
Approx. 70g wild rocket
A large handful of almonds; cracked/broken, but not milled
¼ of a cucumber; very finely sliced
Some zest of a fresh lemon (no, not the whole lemon)
Pimentón as needed
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
Cooking method
pre-preparing the chicken
In a small dish, mix the grated garlic, chopped flat leaf parsley, tomato purée, black pepper and salt together, using a little of the olive oil to help them combine
Using a pastry brush, spatula or clean fingers, baste all surfaces of the chicken breasts and place in the fridge in an airtight container. You should do this at least one hour before cooking, but you can do so up to 24 hours before
The roasting
Place your scrubbed new potatoes with their skins on in a small roasting pan pushed close together. Using clean fingers or a pastry brush, cover lightly with olive oil and then finely sprinkle with a little pimentón. Place in the oven preheated to 175°C.
Place two rashers of the bacon on a plate or chopping board close together and on a diagonal. Remove the first chicken breast from its basting dish and roll it until wrapped tightly in the bacon without removing any of the baste. Repeat for each chicken breast. If there is any of the baste material left, place to one side
Place the basted chicken breasts wrapped in bacon into a roasting dish or ceramic oven-proof dish. Using clean fingers or a pastry brush, baste with a small amount of olive oil. Place in the oven pre-heated to 175°C
The cooking time for both the chicken and the potatoes should be about 25 mins, dependent on your oven. About halfway through, turn both the chicken and the potatoes. If needed, alter their places in the oven to ensure that both are optimally cooked
The side dish
Into a saucepan, pour a little olive oil and place on the stove on a high heat. Throw in the rustically chopped celery. As soon as the oil coats it, pour in the vegetable stock until the celery is about ¾ covered and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and allow to bubble for about 15 to 20 mins without covering
When the celery shows signs of softening, add the drained, pre-cooked butter beans and allow the duo to cook for a further 5 to 10 mins, stirring to prevent sticking.
When both the celery and butter beans are tender, lift them out of the pan, allowing all of the stock and juices to remain. If you've done it right, the celery and beans will taste fantastic, but there won't be much stock left in the pan. No worries.
the spicy whisky sauce
Turn up the heat on the juices and stock that remain in the pan after removing the celery and butter beans. Add about two tbspns of extra virgin olive oil and heat at a high heat, stirring vigorously
Add the finely chopped chillies and about ½ tspn of pimentón, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. If you have any matter left over from the chicken basting, add this too, continuing to stir
Add half of the whisky and allow the boozy bit to burn off, stirring constantly
Bit-by-bit, add the rest of the cream and the whisky, stirring into to a tasty sauce as it thickens. (NB: do not use double cream. If you really want a cream frenzy, simply use more single cream). When it is at the optimum consistency, turn off the heat
the salad
A simple affair, place the rocket in a salad bowl or divide into individual salad bowls
Add the thinly sliced cucumber and fresh lemon zest
Finally sprinkle over the broken almonds and add a dressing of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil; before or at the table
Pairings
This is one of those where I personally feel the deep smokiness and the bacon suit a red wine rather than a white, despite the main protein being chicken. I have really enjoyed it with your unnoteworthy Spanish Tempranillos and Riojas. To date the best wine pairing I have hade with this dish was Mauro Marengo Barolo 2016, a red that is meant to be served slightly chilled. But, we shall defer to Karel for greater wisdom and expertise.
Make sure that you check out Karel's definitive pairing for this dish here.
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