Chicken with Ginger Recipe - Pollo con lo Zenzero

Chicken with ginger is a new Italian recipe: When I moved to Italy in 1982, fresh ginger root was available only in the winter months, and even then it was almost impossible to find. In Florence, only one stand in the city's central vegetable market had it, and the owner didn't know what it was for. When I told her it was used in Chinese cooking, she looked me over, decided I was foreign, and asked me if I was Chinese. People often wonder if I'm German, but that was a first.

Prep Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, skins removed, halved, and butterflied
• 1/2 cup whole plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Continuing with the introduction,
Since then there has been a tremendous influx of Asian immigrants, and now oriental ingredients are commonly available, and they are beginning to slip into the mainstream of Italian cooking. Not too long ago Teresa de'Masi posted a tasty ginger-based pasta sauce on the It.Hobby.Cucina newsgroup and kindly allowed me to translate it; yesterday Elisabetta found the recipe this is based on on the back of a yogurt container. It does bring to mind tandoori cooking, but is an obvious beginning.

Blend the yogurt, ginger, olive oil, and spices to obtain a smooth cream. Spread the mixture evenly over the chicken breasts, cover them, and let them marinate for several hours in the refrigerator. Roast them in a 400 F (200 C) oven for a half hour.

The wine? White, I would say, and perhaps go with either a Greco di Tufo or a Falanghina del Taburno.

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