Chicken Almendrado Recipes

ALMENDRADO WITH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Place onion, garlic and tomatoes under the broiler, or on an already heated skillet, griddle or comal set over medium heat. Roast or char for about 10 minutes, flipping in between, until ingredients are completely charred, cooked and mushy. Set aside and peel the garlic cloves when cool enough to handle.
• In a small skillet set over medium heat, toast the cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon stick for a couple minutes, moving and flipping them around to toast evenly. Set aside. Toast the oregano for 10 to 15 seconds and remove from the heat.
• In the jar of a blender, place the charred onion, peeled garlic and charred tomatoes, along with the tops from the whole cloves (discard the stems), the peppercorns, cinnamon and oregano. Puree until completely smooth.
• Heat the oil in a large casserole set over medium-high heat until very hot, but not smoking. Season the chicken with the salt and brown the chicken pieces for 2 to 3 minutes per side. You may need to do this in batches in order to not to crowd the casserole. Once you have removed all the chicken, immediately pour the tomato sauce into the hot oil and cover, as it will splatter. Reduce heat to medium.
• Add a cup of chicken broth to the blender and puree for a few seconds to get all the remaining thick sauce out of the blender, pour into the simmering sauce and cover again. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Incorporate the remaining cup of chicken broth, almonds, raisins, olives and capers. Add the browned chicken pieces, cover and reduce heat to low and cook for 20 more minutes.
• Remove the lid and add the pickled jalapeño slices. Increase heat to medium and cook for another 10 minutes, allowing all the flavors to blend and the sauce to thicken. Serve with rice.

CHICKEN ALMENDRADO

Steps:

• Brown chicken on all sides in oil in a large pot.
• Add onion, garlic, and serranos to the pot.
• Season chicken with salt and pepper.
• Add stock, then simmer, covered, over low heat, for about 1 hour, or until chicken is tender.
• In a blender or food processor, combine almonds, sliced garlic, and 1/2 cup of cooking liquid.
• Process into a coarse paste.
• Remove chicken from pot and add paste to the pot and cook until sauce has reduced and thickened.
• Place chicken on a platter and cover with sauce and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.
• Serve over rice.

CHICKEN ALMENDRADO

Steps:

• 1. Cook and stir onion in margarine and oil in a 10-inch skillet, until tender.
• 2. Stir in broth, 1/4 cup of almonds, the ground red chiles, vinegar, sugar and cinnamon.
• 3. Heat to boiling; reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
• 4. Spoon mixture into a blender container, cover and blend on low speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
• 5. Return sauce to skillet.
• 6. Dip chicken breasts into the sauce to coat both sides.
• 7. Place skin sides up in a single layer in the skillet.
• 8. Heat to boiling and then reduce the heat, cover and simmer until done, about 45 minutes.
• 9. Serve sauce over chicken and sprinkle with the remaining slivered almonds.