Tacohuaco

This bright stew has a nice acidity, thanks to green bell peppers and olives, and tender chicken thighs or legs. It takes time to brown the chicken on all sides before adding it to the stew, but it makes the skin nice and tasty. Could be equally great for a family dinner, or for a celebration with friends.

Keywords:

Ingredients

Yields 4 portions

  • 4 chicken thighs or 2 chicken legs
  • 1 onion
  • 1 chili
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 5–6 large potatoes
  • 1 large beetroot
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • ½ green bell pepper
  • olives
  • 2 big tomatoes
  • 500 ml of chicken stock
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • ground cumin
  • cumin
  • black peppercorns
  • smoked paprika powder
  • curcuma powder
  • chili flakes
  • kosher salt
  • olive oil

You will need

  • dutch oven

Directions

Before you start: unfreeze chicken stock if frozen.

  1. Rinse and dry chicken thighs. Season with salt and black pepper on both sides and put back in the fridge for several hours.
  2. Prepare the vegetables. Onion: peel, halve, and cut it into 1/2 cm slices. Garlic: peel, and cut into 1/2 cm pieces. Chili: halve, remove the seeds, and thinly slice.
  3. In a dutch oven sat on medium heat, with a generous amount of olive oil, sear the chicken on all sides, until brown and crisp.
  4. While the chicken is browning, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Potatoes, beets, and carrots: peel (if needed), and cut into 2 cm cubes. Bell peppers: remove the seeds, and cut into 1×4 cm stripes. Tomatoes: remove the roots, and cut into 3 cm cubes.
  5. Remove the chicken from the dutch oven.
  6. Sauté the onion, garlic, and chili in the dutch oven until transparent and starting to brown.
  7. Add the potatoes, beets, and carrots, and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
  8. Add the bell peppers, olives, and more salt, and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
  9. Add the tomatoes, and chicken stock. Add ground cumin, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, smoked paprika powder, curcuma powder, and chili flakes. Bring to boil, lower the heat to low, place the chicken on top of the vegetables, and cook covered until the vegetables are tender.
  10. Add more salt if needed, and serve.

Notes & tips

The easiest way to peel garlic is to smash it: put a clove of garlic on a cutting board, put your chef’s knife on top of it so the blade side lays on the clove, and hit the side of the knife with your hand. Now you could peel the clove.