Ajiaco con pollo (Colombian chicken and potato soup)

It's a perfect day for soup: a cold rainy Sunday in December, just after Christmas.  Today I'm trying to recreate my significant other's mother's recipe for ajiaco con pollo.  This chicken and potato soup is a hearty staple of the capital city in Colombia, from whence my beloved Leo originated.  In doing some quick online research, most recipes refer to the soup simply as ajiaco, and there are several variations of the recipe.  I have decided to follow the notes that Leo took down while helping his mom to make the soup and try for an authentic Bogotan feel.  One variation from these notes is that I am using cubed butternut squash instead of pumpkin (In the frozen aisle at the grocery store: "I don't see any pumpkin." "Well here's some butternut squash, do you think that would work?" "Yes! I love butternut squash!" Case closed.). 

The staple ingredient which "makes" the soup is papa criolla amarilla, or yellow creole potatoes.  These small yellow potatoes are very sweet and have a creamy texture, and dissolve into the soup.  Like all potatoes, they are of Andean descent and are considered one of the best in Colombia.  They may be available at fancier food stores, at Latin groceries, and online.

Ingredients

-3 lbs chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and sliced in half lengthwise
-one small to medium sized garlic bulb, peeled and crushed
-one medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
-1 lb papa criolla amarilla
-4 large red potatoes, skin on, cubed
-1/2 lb frozen cubed butternut squash or pumpkin
-8 mini extra-sweet corn cobs
-one bunch green onions
-1 chicken bouillon cube
-1 bay leaf
-salt, to taste
-capers
-rice, cooked separately
-fried plantains
-can also be served with avocado, sour cream, and spicy aji


Begin by combining the chicken, onion, garlic, bay leaf, bouillon cube, and salt in 8-10 cups of cold water (you can always add more if need be).  I'm using my All-clad stockpot.  Heat all of the ingredients over low heat until they come to a boil.

    Meanwhile, cube your red potatoes.  Once the soup boils, remove the onion.  Add the red potatoes and the corn cobs and return to a boil.  When you can easily pierce the red potatoes with a fork, add the papa criolla amarilla and the butternut squash.  Allow the chicken to cook thoroughly, then remove, shred (with forks or hands), and return it to the soup.  Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens to the desired texture.  Just before serving, slice up your green onions and toss into the soup for a little bit of crunchy texture and bright taste.  Serve the soup with rice and fried plantains on the side, and add capers as per personal preference to each bowl.  This is a superbly savory and comforting soup with a simple execution.   

See also: Ajiaco: Colombian Chicken and Potato Soup (Serious Eats)

Hearty Beef Stew

I must say that this is truly one of the tastiest recipes that I have worked with.  Beef stew is best made with chuck steak, a flavorful cut that is perfect for long and slow simmering.  Its connective tissue and high amount of marbling helps to thicken the stew.  Grocery stores often do sell it pre-cut in chunks for stew, but it is better to buy a whole steak if you can and do your own cutting to ensure more evenly sized pieces (about one and a half inch cubes).  I unfortunately had no choice in the matter when I went to the grocery store- there was only the pre-cut option.  Most of the pieces were smaller than I would have liked, and there was little consistency in the actual size.  At least it was the correct cut of meat, and it is convenient to not have to do your own chopping.

I pulled the recipe almost directly from Cook's Illustrated, with only a few minor changes.  A bit more garlic, for instance, and I used a cabernet sauvignon as opposed to a drier red wine.  They also recommended waiting to put the vegetables in halfway through the cooking time, but the first time I tried this, I ended up having to cook the whole thing an extra hour because the potatoes and carrots were still quite crunchy after only one hour.  This is very likely due to my oven being very old and inefficient, so if you have a more modern appliance, you may want to follow Cook's Illustrated's lead unless you like very mushy vegetables.

Ingredients

3 lbs chuck steak, chopped into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 lb red potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb baby carrots
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 cup thawed frozen peas
1 cup dry (and/or) full-bodied red wine 
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp flour
5 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 bay leaves
fresh or dried thyme, to taste
ground black pepper

If you are feeling up to the task, pearl onions are a wonderful addition to this stew.  I meant to try to add portabella mushrooms this time, but I forgot that I had them in the refrigerator.  I'm sure that they would be delicious, too.  A dutch oven would be perfect for this; alas I do not yet have one.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  Liberally season the beef with black pepper.  Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium high heat until it has a lovely shimmer to it.  Working in batches, brown the meat on at least two sides.  Tongs are very helpful for this.  The reason you should work in batches is that if each cube of meat doesn't have a bit of breathing room around it, they will not brown.  Instead, they will steam, turn gray, and become tough.  It takes about 4 minutes for smaller cubes to brown, and I only flip them once (regardless of size).  Keep an eye on them; don't entirely rely on the timer.  About halfway through browning the beef, you will need to add another tbsp of oil to the pot.  Put the browned cubes in a bowl to the side once finished.

Now, turn the heat down to medium low, add the last tbsp of oil, and add your onions, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to dislodge all of the browned bits left over from the meat.  Once the onions have softened (about 4 to 5 minutes), add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.  In goes the flour.  Keep stirring and mixing everything together for another minute or two, at which point the flour should become a light brown.  Add the wine, stirring everything together and again scraping the bottom of the pot, until the wine begins to thicken.  At this point, gradually stir in the chicken broth.  Once all the liquid is in the pan, put your thyme and bay leaves in, and bring to a simmer.  Add the beef, carrots, and potatoes; stir and bring to a simmer once more.  Cover and put in the oven for two hours.

At the end of the two hours, take the pot out of the oven and stir in the frozen peas.  After about five minutes, the stew will be ready to serve.  Enjoy!

PS- This recipe works very well for venison stew meat as well.  I treated the venison in almost the same manner; browning time was decreased by a couple of minutes, and I allowed the stew to cook for three instead of two hours.  All other steps were identical, and the results were fantastically delicious!