Tuesday 11 September 2012

Chicken and tomatillo stew

 
Well done Andy Murray, congratulations on winning your much deserved first Grand Slam. Hopefully now, the press will get off your back and you can enjoy yourself a little more.

Now that my tomatillo's are being harvested, I have dug out my recipes to use. Some of you will not have heard of them or even used them. However, you can substitute green tomatoes. If doing so, I would recommend tomatoes that have a lighter green yellowish hue to them (only just beginning to ripen).

The sauce part of this dish can be made in advance and either left in the fridge for only a day or two, or frozen for use in the depths of winter. 

The original recipe for this came from here but I have adapted it to our tastes and to make it less complicated to make.
 
Chicken & Tomatillo (or Green Tomato) Stew – Serves 2

Sauce Ingredients (make first)

3/4 lb tomatillo's or light green tomatoes
1 chile (remove seeds if you don't like it too hot)
1/2 large clove garlic or 1 small one
1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice (use 1 tablespoon if using tomatoes)
1/2 tsp sugar (add another 1/2 if using tomatoes)

Method

De-husk and wash tomatillo's.
De-core and cut in half.

Place cut half down on foil in a grill pan.

Grill for 5 – 7 minutes until taking on a brown tinge but do not burn.
Leave to cool slightly.

In a blender (or use a stick blender in a deep jug) add the cooled tomatillo's/tomatoes and their juice, to the above ingredients.
Blend to a puree and put to one side.


Stew Ingredients

1lb chicken (I used sliced breast as that is what I had, but you can use thighs or drumsticks).
1 tablespoon oil.
1 chopped large onion.
1 minced clove garlic.
1/2 tsp ground cumin.
1/2 tsp ground coriander.
200 ml chicken stock (use 1/2 a stock cube).
Tomatillo/green tomato sauce from above.
1/2 tsp dried or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano.
1 - 2 tablespoon's chopped fresh coriander or parsley (I didn't have any so used 1/2 dessertspoon fresh tarragon).

Method

Using a frying pan with a lid, a wok or a saucepan, heat the oil and gently fry the chicken in batches.
Make sure you don't move it too much, it needs to brown. 
Remove.
Add another tablespoon oil and gently fry the onion until soft.
Add ground cumin and coriander and cook for a few minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds.
Add the brown chicken, tomatillo sauce, stock and oregano. Stir well.
Cook uncovered (if using breast ) as the sauce needs to thicken, until chicken is done.
Start to cook rice.
Cook partially covered if using thighs or drumsticks.
If the meat is cooked but the sauce is not thickened enough, remove meat, keep warm and continue to cook sauce.
Once sauce is thickened but not gloopy or solid, add the chicken.
Add cilantro or parsley if using.

Serve with the plain boiled rice.




3 comments:

  1. I've never eaten tomatillo, but this looks wonderful. We're going to try it first chance we get.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks delicious...almost like a curry! I grew Tomatillos two years ago and they seemed to do quite well indoors, though mine were yellow. Are yours a green variety?

    ReplyDelete
  3. If these were able to mature more they would be light green yellow but these were picked a little early as they kept falling off. I normally grow purple green ones.

    ReplyDelete

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