Pollo Guisado & Platanos Fritos

When I was home in June, I cooked a Dominican dinner for my family and a few friends. It turned out delicious and everyone was impressed with my Dominican cooking skills!

Pollo Guisado: Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

Chicken with skins (we used small chicken breasts and legs) 

A tablespoon of sugar

Celery

Onion

Red Pepper

Green Pepper

Garlic

Tomato Paste &/or Stewed Tomatoes

Chicken Bullion (I used Chicken Broth)

Cilantro, Oregano, Salt

1) Chop all vegetables, I like the peppers in long strips. Prep Garlic by grinding with a pillon, add a little salt to create a creamy paste.

2) Heat a good amount of soy bean or vegetable oil in a pan. When oil is hot put a spoon full of sugar, allow sugar to burn completely and mix into oil. This gives the chicken a beautiful color and adds a slightly sweet burnt flavor!

3) Pan cook the chicken thoroughly.

4) When the chicken is cooked through, add the garlic paste, onion, celery, peppers, cilantro and oregano. Use the leafy end of the celery as well as full stalks of cilantro and oregango for tons of flavor! Allow vegetables too cook on low heat for about 7 minutes. 

5) Now its time to "stew." Add tomato paste and stewed tomatoes (or fresh chopped tomatoes if you like tomato skins, like me) and chicken broth to the pan. Place on a low temperature and cover. I transferred my Pollo Guisado to a crock pot for stewing because I made several pans of chicken! You should allow the chicken to stew for as long as possible, but 30 min should do the trick.

Platanos Fritos: Fried Plantains

Ingredients:

Green Plantains, soy/vegetable oil, & salt.

1) Remove skin and all strings, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and soak in cold salt water.

2) Heat oil in a small pan (this uses less oil). When oil is hot, slowly drop in several pieces. When the outsides are crisp remove from the oil. Once they have cooled smash into a flat pancake. If smashed when too hot they will be very sticky.

3) Place flattened plantains back into the oil to fry the exposed fruit. Finished plantains should be crispy! Salt and serve with ketchup. 

Serve Pollo Guisado and Platanos Fritos with rice (I prepared rice with sweet corn) and a fresh salad!

Dominican salad dressing:

Finely chopped onion and red pepper soaked in vinegar. 

Just before serving add salt and olive oil.