pollo asada al ajillo (cuban garlic chicken)

i saw this recipe on sara moulton's show on food network a whiles back. never got around to making it until today. of course it's on my day off and while i have a sore throat, but oh well. here's the recipe.

combine the following in a blender until pureed:
1 lg white onion quartered
5 garlic cloves minced with salt
1/2 c white wine
1/4 c olive oil
1 T vinegar
salt
pour this over the chicken in a dish, cover, and marinate 2 hrs or so.

drain the marinade and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. rub in another 5 cloves of garlic minced with salt and squeeze the juice of 1 lime over it all. sprinkle both sides of the chicken with cumin, salt, pepper, and lightly dust with flour.



brown the chicken to a golden brown on both sides in large skillet, then throw the whole thing into the oven at 375* preheated for about 30 - 45 min until juices run clear when pricked with a toothpick.

overall this dish came out ok. it has real potential though. the prep time (read marinade time in the fridge) can be lengthy and you'll have plenty of dishes to clean including the blender, but this is great for about 4 meals. i suggest seasoning well with salt and if you can, let it marinade longer, overnite, to let the onion flavor really soak in. mine was extremely moist but could've been more flavorful. also be careful of browning the chicken too much. i overdid it a little and ended up throwing some white wine in the bottom of the pan before throwing it in the oven to moisten up all the browned bits stuck to the pan. this caused the chicken skin to not roast as evenly, as the liquid was evaporating around the meat vs a dry heat searing the skin. i'd also add another lime to the equation since i like bolder flavors.


i paired the chicken with some quick sauted mustard greens with garlic, S/P, and a splash of wine vinegar. healthy side, but add a sprinkle of sugar to it to cut the bitterness. the vinegar was a little too strong by itself. some kind of carb would also go well with this, maybe plantains. but i've been limiting my carbs where possible just to keep things in balance. a glass of the cheap turning leaf chardonnay i used in the marinade rounded off the meal, sort of.

will definitely make this again. but with the additions stated above. i usually will make a dish to the recipe once, then improve on it to my tastes by substituting or changing it up a bit. we'll see on the next one.