Garlic chicken and wild mushroom gravy recipe

GARLIC CHICKEN

This is a super simple recipe that I learned from our maid/dog-nanny (hehe) but is always a hit in our garlic-lovin’ family.

Serves 2

• Royco chicken marinade or 1/2 Maggi Chicken cube
• 1/4 Kilo Chicken fillet
• 1 tablespoon Olive oil
• About 4 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Marinade the chicken fillets in Royco or rub it with powdered cube & leave for 20 minutes to overnight in the ref.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan, then place the minced garlic. Saute until you can smell the garlic aroma (or until right before it starts to brown) & the oil is infused with the flavor
3. Push the garlic to the side of the pan & place chicken fillet. When one side is nice and golden, turn only once.
4. When the second side is perfectly browned, arrange on a platter, then pour the oil & garlic bits on top. Garlic should be golden by then.

WILD MUSHROOM SAUCE/GRAVY

I distinctly remember the moment when I realized that gravy is not a staple here in Jakarta. A few days after we moved here, the hubby and I were really tired from an entire day of apartment hunting, and we were ravenous. We didn’t like the food in the hotel. We decided to call KFC for delivery (since it was the only delivery number we had).  To our dismay, no one could speak English My hubby said, he saw one nearby and would walk it. You have to understand, I get really grumpy & nauseous when I am hungry. My husband took so long that my head was light & I was dizzy already. When the chicken arrived, it was soggy AND THERE WAS NO GRAVY!!! We were both so pissed! I wanted to run amok. Seriously.

Fine, it took a ages, because apparently it wasn’t walking distance. So yes, he spent money on a cab to and from the KFC. Okay, it got soggy because of travel time. BUT NO GRAVY?!?!?  It would have been all worth it, if ONLY we had some gravy to dunk the soggy KFC in. Then all would have been forgiven.

That was the hard way we learned that gravy is automatically served with chicken here in Indonesia. Instead we got packets & packets of sambal. Not even ketchup  (Grrrrr). So my next trip to Manila I loaded up on as much gravy mix as I could. I have gravy mix for chicken, for beef… in every single brand I could find!

But sometimes I like to make it a little more special…

This is a super simple quick & easy recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com, that adds a little oomph to any dish that’s good with gravy. I make a big batch, divide it among small containers & place it in the freezer so I can defrost a batch whenever I need it.

It is loaded with mushrooms, so much so, that my hubby eats it like a siding. I don’t have to tell you that he loved it with the Garlic Chicken! =)

Prep Time: 5 Minutes

Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Servings: 4

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 2 ounces portobello mushrooms, sliced (You can use ordinary mushrooms, or even just one kind of mushroom if you don’t have all these available. As long as the total amount of mushrooms as required by the recipe is the same, it will still taste great!)
• 2 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 2 ounces morel mushrooms, sliced
• 2 ounces chanterelle mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 6 fluid ounces beef demi glace (I used a pack of gravy mix dissolved in 1/2 cup of water instead)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Saute shallots briefly
3. Then stir in all of the mushrooms. Saute until tender and translucent, about 3 minutes.
4. Pour in red wine, and simmer for 3 minutes.
5. Stir in demi glace, and simmer for 6 minutes, or until sauce has thickened.