Chicken: Aji de Gallina

By Snook

Peruvian chicken in Yellow Chili Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• chicken:
• whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 lb)
• 1 stalk celery, large dice
• 1 carrot, large dice
• 1/2 onion, large dice
• 1 bay leaf
• sauce:
• 4 1/2 inch thick slices firm white sandwich bread, crusts discarded
• 1 c whole milk
• 2 T evvo
• 1 onion, medium dice
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1/2 t tumeric
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 3 to 4 T bottled aji amarillo paste
• 1/2 c parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/2 c walnuts, rough chopped
• s and p to taste
• 1/4 c pitted black olives, halved
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

Preparation

Step 1

Place the chicken in a deep pot with the celery, carrot, 1/2 onion and bay leaf, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. Strain the liquid from the pot; discard the vegetables and reserve the broth.

When the chicken is cool, remove the skin and bones, and shred the meat into bite-size pieces.

For the sauce: Place the bread slices in a shallow dish and pour in the milk. Allow the bread to soak until softened. Once softened, mash the bread with a fork.

In a large, heavy pan, add the olive oil and saute the onion, stirring occasionally until lightly caramelized, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tumeric and cumin, and cook an additional minute.

Stir in the chili paste and the bread mixture, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups of the reserved chicken broth, and simmer an additional minute.

Transfer the sauce base to a blender, add the parmesan cheese and walnuts and puree until very smooth. If it is too thick, add more chicken broth until you have a pourable consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, transfer the chicken and sauce to a warm platter and garnish with the olives and hard-boiled eggs.