World Cuisine Recipes: Pollo Guisado (Chicken Stew)

Since it's super hot outside, and also super hot inside my apartment, I decided that I needed a vacation. Preferably a cruise to the Caribbean. But since I don't have any money, I decided to just cook a meal that made me feel like I was in the Caribbean. I decided to go with Puerto Rican cuisine since I haven't had much exposure to it.

After looking at a lot of recipes on the internet for various Puerto Rican specialties, I decided to avoid the traditional arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and pork recipes. What I came up with was a chicken stew. This chicken dish requires a special ingredient called sofrito. Sofrito is a mixture of green pepper, onion, cilantro, garlic, and an herb called recao. I had quite a time trying to locate some recao since it's also called culantro, long coriander, ngo-gai, Mexican coriander, and saw tooth. In the end I finally found it at a Thai grocery (after the produce guys at Fiesta looked at me like I was crazy). I'm not sure if sofrito is available pre-made, but I made my own batch since it can easily be frozen.

Pollo Guisado (Chicken Stew)
Adapted from World Cuisine Recipes

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 teaspoon Goya Adobo seasoning
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons sofrito (see below or use Goya Sofrito)
1 packet Sazón Goya (coriander and annatto flavor)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
12 small pimento-stuffed green olives
2 bay leaves
½ green pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cups chicken broth
2 medium potatoes, skinned and cubed

Season the chicken with the Adobo seasoning. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Brown the chicken pieces, about 5 minutes on each side.  Set aside.

In the same pot, add the sofrito  to the remaining oil and stir briefly to release the flavors.  Add the Sazón Goya, salt, crushed tomatoes, olives, bay leaves, green pepper, chicken broth, potatoes, and browned chicken. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down to medium-low and simmer for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Sofrito
From Freddie's Online Puerto Rican Cookbook

8 stems cilantro
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped coarsely
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small onion, chopped coarsely
6 leaves recao/culantro, stems removed
1 tablespoon olive oil

Drop all ingredients but olive oil into a food processor and puree. While processing, add olive oil in a stream.