Ají De Gallina Peruvian Spicy Creamed Chicken Recipe 45

AJí DE GALLINA (PERUVIAN SPICY CREAMED CHICKEN) RECIPE - (4/5)

Steps:

• 1. Cook the yellow potatoes in salted water until tender when pierced with a fork. Let cool, peel, cut into quarters, and set aside. 2. Place the bread in a small bowl and pour the evaporated milk over it to soak. Set aside. 3. Place the chicken breasts in a pot with the chicken stock, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until chicken is just barely cooked through. 4. Set chicken aside to cool. Strain broth and reserve 2 cups. 5. Remove stems and seeds from the peppers. In a blender, process peppers with the vegetable oil until smooth. 6. Sauté the garlic and onions with the puréed peppers and oil, until the onions are soft and golden. Remove from heat and let cool. 7. Shred the cooled chicken into bite-size pieces. 8. In a blender or food processor, process the evaporated milk and bread mixture with the nuts and parmesean cheese until smooth. Add the cooked onion mixture and process briefly. 9. Return onion mixture to pan, and add 1 1/2 cups of the reserved chicken stock. Bring to a low simmer, and stir in the chicken. Heat until warmed through, adding more chicken stock if sauce is too thick. 10. Serve over rice, garnished with the yellow potatoes, slices of hard boiled egg, and black olives.

AJí DE GALLINA CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• Fill a medium pot with sufficient water to cover the chicken breast and bring to the boil. Cook the chicken for about 25 minutes over medium heat. Remove from the pot and once it's cool enough, shred the breast. Set aside. Use the broth or chicken stock to soak the bread rolls until they've absorbed enough and blend in a food processor to create a bread puree.
• Cut the ají amarillo chili peppers in half and remove the veins (ribs) and seeds. Holding them with a tong, grill the peppers directly on a high heat flame until the skin is cooked and black in parts. Rinse the peppers and remove the skin, then chop roughly.
• In a frying pan, add some vegetable oil and lightly fry the ají peppers, chopped white or red onion, garlic and pecans. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend.
• Pour the contents of the blender into a frying pan and add the shredded breast. Stir well and cook until it achieves the right consistency. Add the grated parmesan cheese and the evaporated milk just before turning off the heat.
• Boil the potatoes, unpeeled and with 3 tablespoons of salt and leave to cool.
• Boil the eggs until hard and leave to cool.
• Place a lettuce leaf on the plate, followed by 4 generous slices of potato per serving and a portion of rice. Serve over the white rice and potatoes. Serve with one or two slices of boiled egg and black olives.

AJI DE GALLINA

Steps:

• Place chicken breasts, onion, carrot, and 2 cloves garlic in a large saucepan, pour in 2 quarts of water and slowly bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Skim off the foam which forms on top, then cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and allow to cool. Strain the resulting chicken stock, discarding the vegetables.
• Pour evaporated milk and 1/2 cup chicken stock into the bowl of a blender. Add bread cubes and puree until smooth. Add Parmesan cheese and walnuts; puree until smooth. Shred the cooled chicken and discard the bones.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in minced garlic and minced onion; cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in shredded chicken and aji amarillo until heated through. Pour in bread puree and cook until hot, stirring frequently. Add more chicken stock if needed to keep from getting too thick. Season with turmeric and simmer for 5 minutes more.
• Serve garnished with hard-cooked egg slices and sprinkled with kalamata olives.

PERUVIAN AJI DE GALLINA

Steps:

• Fill a pot with water and add chicken breasts. Bring to a boil. Dissolve chicken bouillon in 1 cup hot water; add to the chicken when water is boiling. Continue to boil until chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, about 20 minutes. Place chicken on a plate to cool; shred with 2 forks. Reserve 2 cups cooking liquid and then empty the pot.
• Place the same pot over medium-high heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom. Saute onion in the hot oil until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook, 1 to 2 minutes. Add aji paste, turmeric, cumin, salt, and pepper; saute for 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
• Combine bread, evaporated milk, walnuts, and Parmesan cheese in an electric blender. Blend until smooth; add the seasoned mixture from the pot to the blender and blend until smooth once more. Mixture should be bright yellow.
• Place the pot over medium-low heat and add yellow mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, 3 to 4 minutes; this will thicken quickly. Add reserved chicken liquid in small increments until mixture loosens some. Add shredded chicken and more liquid as needed until you get a thick, soup-like texture. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

CHICKEN IN CHILE SAUCE (AJí DE GALLINA)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
• If using quail eggs, cover with cold water in a very small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, 5 minutes. Rinse eggs under cold water to stop cooking, then peel.
• Soak bread in milk until softened, then mash with a fork.
• Cook onion and garlic in 1 1/2 tablespoons oil with turmeric and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in chile paste and bread mixture and simmer, stirring occasionally, until very thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in broth and cheese and simmer 1 minute. Carefully transfer to a blender with walnuts and blend until very smooth, about 1 minute (use caution when blending hot liquids). Transfer sauce to a medium saucepan and keep warm, covered, over very low heat, stirring occasionally.
• Pat chicken dry, then season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot, then brown half of chicken, skin side down first, turning once, about 8 minutes total. Transfer, skin side up, to a 4-sided sheet pan. Pour off oil from skillet and wipe clean, then brown remaining chicken in remaining tablespoon oil in same manner.
• Roast chicken in oven until just cooked through, about 15 minutes.
• Halve quail eggs lengthwise.
• Spoon some of sauce onto a large platter, then arrange chicken on top. Garnish with quail eggs and serve with remaining sauce on the side.
• What to drink:
• Concha y Toro Terrunyo Casablanca Valley Sauvignon Blanc '07