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!

I HEART PORK

I was away two weeks ago on a much needed vacation in the Dominican Republic. I happened to be in town the day they were celebrating their annual pigs day. The picture you see here are pigs on a stick that were roasted to perfection. They were lined up on every street. There were hundreds of them. I felt like I was traveling with Anthony Bourdain but it was just my boyfriend, Adam. Not the same...

They sold the meat for $5 a pound! It was all out in the open. They chopped the pig right in front of you. I was in pork bliss. I couldn't even hear Adam calling me to ask how much he should buy. How much to buy?? What was he kidding??? Could we have eaten more than a pound for lunch? It was then put on a styrofoam plate and wrapped with a plastic black bag. I love how they don't care about packaging. It was nothing but pork every where and one stand that sold loaves of bread.

Of course we bought some. I really wanted to ask if they also had hot sauce but knew I would be pushing it. Here you see the butcher giving us the thumbs up for his pigs. I'm sure they were all roasted at the same place. We went back to our hotel and happily ate our pound of pork with just bread in our room on the terrace. It was perfectly salted and super moist. The skin was perfectly crisped. I heart pork...