I recently dined at Ecco Buckhead and fell in love with their crispy chicken a la Milanese. Are they willing to share the recipe? — Anna Negus, Atlanta
When Ecco’s executive chef Paul Martin sent this recipe, he wrote, “We took a traditional pork Milanese dish and adapted it. With the black garlic aioli and crisp, pickled onions, this dish has great complexity and flavor.”
At Ecco, the black garlic aioli is seasoned with fermented black garlic. You can find this at stores that sell Asian groceries, but Martin says it’s fine to substitute roasted garlic. He also recommends using high-quality aioli from your grocer’s shelves.
You can find roasted garlic in some grocery stores, but it’s easy to make at home. Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut the top off a whole head of garlic, put it on foil and drizzle with olive oil, then wrap it up and bake 30 minutes or until very soft. (This can take up to 1 hour.) Unwrap the garlic and squeeze the roasted head to remove the cloves from their papery skin. Roasted garlic will keep, refrigerated, about 2 weeks.
Ecco garnishes the chicken with pickled red onions. Martin suggested using thinly sliced raw red onion, but he also provided Ecco’s recipe for preparing pickled onions: In a saucepan, bring 2 cups red wine vinegar and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add 1 cup granulated sugar and stir until dissolved. Put at least 1/4 cup sliced red onion (more if you would like extra pickled red onions for another use) in a medium bowl and cover with the hot pickling mixture. Let onions rest in the liquid at room temperature at least 2 hours before serving. They can be made ahead and refrigerated until needed.
Ecco’s Chicken a la Milanese
From the menu of ... Ecco, 3586 Peachtree Road, Atlanta. 404-347-9558, ecco-atlanta.com.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.
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