Pollo Guisado Dominicano et Moro de habichuelas (savory chicken stew with Dominican rice and red beans)

My son Jeremy made this wonderful braised chicken stew based on this recipe https://www.dominicancooking.com/pollo-guisado with a few variations noted. It was delicious and even better the second day (although there was not much left over!).

While I’m at it I want to give a shout out to the lovely folks at Rapidito Latin Market here in Kingston, Ontario. They are my “Go to” for Latino ingredients like the sofrito, canela sugar, cubanela peppers, sazon and adobe seasoning in these recipe. Need a specific type of chili pepper?…they’ve got you covered

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of chicken drumsticks, bone in, skin on.
  
• Juice of 1 lime
•  ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 small red onions halved and sliced in half moons
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 tablespoon grated garlic, about 4 cloves
  
• 1 pouch of sofrito – approx 5-6 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon canela sugar (white sure will do in a pinch).
• 2 cup water
• 2 green bell, or cubanela (cubanelle) peppers
• 1 can diced tomatoes with the juice
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
  
• ¼ teaspoon fresh black pepper
• Fresh Cilantro and lime for garnish.

Method

Read this for a detailed “how to”: https://www.dominicancooking.com/pollo-guisado

Make sure you let the sugar caramelize over medium-high heat to start. You’ll need a cooking oil with a high smoke point like peanut or corn oil (NOT olive oil) and let the drum sticks get quite brown before you add the rest of the ingredients.

1. Place the drumsticks in a bowl with a lid and season with lime juice.
2. Add the oregano, onion, celery, salt, and garlic. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes.
3. In a heavy bottomed pot heat the oil over medium heat, add sugar, and wait until it browns.
4. Add the chicken (reserve the marinade for use in a later step) and cook until the meat is well browned.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring and adding water as it becomes necessary to prevent it from burning.
6. Add the vegetables from the marinate as well as cubanelle pepper and the sofrito. Cover, and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, adding water by the tablespoon and stirring as it becomes necessary.
7. Add the tomatoes with their juice, and simmer over low to produce a light sauce. The vegetables will be very soft, the sauce is a bit thick, and the chicken fall-off-the-bone tender.
8. Add fresh cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Rice and Beans

For the rice: https://mydominicankitchen.com/rice-beans-moro-de-habichuelas/#wprm-recipe-container-6396

Ingredients