Almost every dish that I prepare evolves from the very first time I introduced it to my family, depending on who has special requests with regards to the dish. Take our Chicken Salpicao:
One of my first few versions of the Chicken Salpicao
Because this was lunch for the kiddos, I used ground chicken meat with sliced button mushrooms and lots of Salpicao sauce. It’s the same as the marinade below, but diluted in water and put in a few drops of Knorr seasoning, sauteed with chopped garlic. The kids love it, that I was inspired to take this dish to another level. Maybe they will like the adult version…
For lunch last Saturday, I prepared this dish again with the hubby in mind. Taking inspiration from Erwan Heussaff’s Beef Salpicao recipe from his blog, I used whatever I had at home and tweaked it a little bit to cater to our taste buds. So, here you go:
I roasted two bulbs of garlic (one for me, and one for hubby) in a small steel container using a Turbo Broiler at 200C for 15 minutes. You can also use a ceramic bowl, just remember to use containers that can withstand high temperatures that are recommended for baking. Remember to wash the garlic bulbs first, then drench them in Olive Oil, seasoned with Salt. In my case, I used Onion Salt. You can use any type of salt, for that matter.
Roasted Garlic is always a treat!
Because I hardly plan my meals, I don’t have time to prep and marinade days before the actual cooking. But so far, so good, my dishes have always been very tasty and flavorful despite the last minute preps 😉 Here are what’s needed to marinade your meat (in this case, chicken breasts sliced into cubes):
While waiting for the garlic to roast, marinade the chicken cubes
For 1 whole chicken fillet, mix the following ingredients in:
3 TBSPs of Soy Sauce
3 TBSPs of Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBSP of Paprika
1TBSP of Garlic Powder
Ground Black Pepper to taste
Then, while waiting for the marinade to settle into the chicken meat, and the garlic to roast, start cooking the vegetables. TIP: If you are not in a rush, you can wait for the garlic to roast and use the seasoned (and roasted) Olive Oil to stir fry the vegetables. For plating purposes, you may cook (in low heat) the following in sequence:
Veggies galore for a balanced meal 🙂 Clockwise: chopped lettuce, sliced button mushrooms, butter (for that extra flavor), and chopped spring onions
First: chopped lettuce (Erwan used red cabbage, but I just used what I had at home) stir fried with a dollop of butter/margarine
Second: sliced button mushrooms (drained) and stir fried in Olive Oil
Third: place the Roasted Garlic Bulbs on the side
Now, cook the marinated chicken cubes and add an estimate of 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil (in low heat, as well) until there is no more sauce left. That’s the signal for you to put them on top of the layered vegetables. Sprinkle with chopped spring onion, and there you have it:
Chicken Salpicao shot from the top. Pardon the plating 😮
Chicken Salpicao shot from the side
The verdict? Hubby loved the intense flavor of the marinated chicken meat, but the kids found it too strong. Our first born asked for egg for pairing with this Salpicao dish – bright idea, actually!
Our son paired the Salpicao dish with an order of sunny-side up!
I tried it, and it’s not bad at all! But I would prefer to have it the way I cooked it. The egg helped masked the strong flavor of the meat, and perhaps that’s the reason why our son loved the combination.
Let me know how this dish goes for you and your family, and maybe you can share some cooking tips, too? Enjoy!
butter, chicken, chicken breast, chicken breast fillet, cooking, dish, garlic, lettuce, mushroom, olive oil, onion salt, paprika, pepper, roasted, salpicao, salt, soy sauce, worcestershire
