Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Pollo Guisado, braised chicken






Growing up in NYC, we were exposed to the rich and delicious flavors of Latin Caribbean cooking.  We grew up with friends with families that hailed from Puerto Rico, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic, the origin of one of my favorite dishes, Pollo Guisado.  It is basically a braised chicken dish with a tomato base.  It is super easy to make and delicious with rice and beans. Living in LA, I have grown to love the fresh and bright flavors of Mexican cuisine but oh do I miss my Pollo Guisado, pernil and sancocho!  This past weekend I woke up with a hankering for these flavors and ran to the market to grab my ingredients.  Make this for your families and they will love you even more.  Make a big batch so there are leftovers!! 

Pollo Guisado
6 chicken legs split into thighs and drumsticks (organic, I insist!)
4 plum tomatoes chopped
1 8oz can tomato sauce 
1 green bell pepper diced
1 large onion diced
6 cloves garlic smashed (keep pieces big)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
1 generous pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1 bay leaf
1 cup of green Spanish olives
salt and pepper to taste
fresh cilantro chopped
  • brown chicken, set aside
  • saute garlic, onion 
  • add bell pepper then chopped tomatoes
  • add a pinch of salt to this mix
  • when the sofrito is nice and cooked, add the chicken back
  • after 5 mins, add the tomato sauce, cumin and bay leaf
  • bring back to boil and add olives
  • add water if necessary to almost cover the chicken
  • bring back to boil and lower heat to slow simmer
  • cook for 45 mins, add salt, pepper and red pepper to taste

Serve with rice, beans, sliced avocado and fried plantains sprinkled with brown sugar.  Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the chicken to finish.  

Here is my easy black bean recipe:
1 lb black beans dry (soaked overnight)
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
  • discard soaking water and rinse beans
  • add 9 cups water (don't salt water! will make beans tough)
  • bring to a boil, lower to a simmer
  • simmer for 45 mins and add bay leaf
  • in a separate pan, saute onion, garlic and pepper then add to beans
  • simmer for another hour 
  • salt and pepper to taste 
Enjoy!


10 comments:

Belinda said...

MM! This would sure create some new memories of a rich, gorgeous dish.

lishapisa said...

Oh my.... this sounds so good! i love love chicken stew and your recipe is so simple, i cant wait to make this for the love of my life ( no barfing) ...
and served it with all my favs!
will you make this for us on our next trip so we can love you even more ;)

plantain with brown sugar ...very interesting..

thanks!

lishapisa said...

Hi Belinda ! Thank you for your visits . Do you have a website?

Happy Valley Chow said...

And this is why I love being a food blogger...I get to experience lots of different cuisine that I'm not familiar with! Sounds fantastic :)

Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow

hungrysmurf said...

Thanks HVC! Hope you try this dish sometime! So good!

lishapisa said...

"cindy's peeps" LOL ....for sure

Shu Han said...

this looks AMAZING. I love chicken stews of any kind full stop, but this is such a rich interesting mix of flavours that are completely new to me. good one, glad i chanced upon this.

Pam said...

This looks like a delicious and comforting way to make chicken. YUM!

Shu Han said...

love this! there;s nothign more comforting than a chicken stew especially since the sun refuses to shine here in London. I've pretty much run out of ideas for variations of a chicken stew beyong the english/french version (clean, 'boring'), italian ('tomatoes!') and chinese (soy sauce, oyster sauce and rice wine) etc.This is a good new one to try! Thanks so much for sharing!

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