Southwestern Recipes
Chicken Stew (Estofado de Pollo)
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons lard or olive oil
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 10 small cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 3 1/4 pounds tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
- 1 (8 to 10 ounce) jar pitted green olives
- 1/4 pound raisins
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried thyme (or substitute oregano)
- 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons broken cinnamon sticks
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 pound whole almonds
- 1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) chicken, cut into serving pieces with 3/4 of skin removed
- Garlic salt
- 1/2 (7 ounce) can pickled serrano chiles (or substitute slightly more canned jalapeños)
- 1/4 cup parsley, minced
Instructions
- Heat half the fat in large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic;
cook until just soft but not browned. Add tomatoes.
- Chop half the olives and raisins (reserving remaining portions), add them
to pot and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add sugar, thyme, cinnamon sticks
and salt, and cook 5 minutes; allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, boil almonds for 5 to 10 minutes, allow them to cool; remove
the skins.
- Place cooled sauce mixture and half the almonds in a blender and blend for
1 minute. You may have to do this in 2 batches.
- Sprinkle chicken pieces with garlic salt and fry in remaining lard or oil
over medium to medium-high heat in a large pot or Dutch oven until well browned.
- Strain blended sauce into pot with chicken. Add to pot the reserved whole
olives, raisins and almonds, half-can of chiles with juice, and parsley; simmer,
covered for 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender and sauce has thickened.
- Serve over white Oaxaca.