Easy Spiced Chicken with Pears Recipe – Pollo con Pera

Pieces of chicken are roasted with onions, carrots, cinnamon and a bit of thyme. Then a "picada" made of roasted ground almonds, bread crumbs and garlic. It's all combined together with pears halves and raisins, creating a spiced chicken with a special flavor combination that is intriguing and absolutely mouth-watering. The traditional recipe uses duck instead of chicken, so if you prefer duck, substitute six portions of duck meat for the chicken.
Ingredients:
6 chicken leg quarters
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
1 large onion
2 large carrots
1 cinnamon stick
4 sprigs thyme or 1 Tbsp dried thyme
2 cups chicken stock
3 firm, ripe pears
1/4 cup raisins
1 slice stale bread, crusts trimmed or 1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, sliced
24 blanched almonds
2-3 sprigs fresh parsley
salt and pepper
Preparation:

This chicken with pears recipe makes 6 servings.

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Salt the leg quarters. Pour 2-3 Tbsp into a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan and heat on medium. Brown chicken quarters for 5 minutes on each side.

Place the leg quarters into a ceramic or glass ovenproof dish and set aside. Drain any pan drippings from frying pan.

Peel the onion and cut into very thin slices. Peel and cut carrots into half-inch-long pieces. Return frying pan to heat. Place onion slices into frying pan and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick, thyme and chicken stock to the frying pan and bring to a boil. Reserve 1/4 cup of liquid. Pour rest of stock mixture over the chicken. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

While the chicken bakes, pour 2-3 Tbsp olive oil into a clean, heavy-bottomed frying pan and heat on medium-high heat. If using stale bread, fry the slice of bread on both sides. Remove and place on a paper towel to drain. Slice garlic cloves and sauté in the frying pan. Set aside for later.

To make the almond picada (meaning ground or minced), toast the blanched almonds until golden on both sides. Place almonds in a food processor and grind almonds until fine. Add garlic slices. If using stale bread, tear bread into 4 pieces and add them to the processor and whirl until all ingredients begin to form a smooth paste. If using bread crumbs, add them and whirl. Add the reserved stock to the processor and whirl briefly. Stir in the parsley. Salt to taste.

Peel the pears, then halve and core them. In a large heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat a 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the pears in the oil, cut side down just until they start to brown. Remove and set aside.

Remove the ovenproof with chicken from oven when done and add the picada over the top of the chicken. Sprinkle the raisins around the dish. Carefully place the pears, cut side up around the dish. Return to the oven and back for another 15 minutes, or until the pears are tender. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Home-made mashed potatoes is a good complement to this dish, as well as fresh green beans sautéed in a bit of garlic.
By Lisa & Tony Sierra