Recipe Friday: Cuban Chicken

This is a prized family recipe. I thought long and hard if I wanted to share it with you and ultimately decided that it wouldn’t turn into some kind of underground phenomena (though its that good so the possibility remains) where I’m going to be at a dinner party and have it served to me with the cook taking all the credit for coming up with this amazing dish. College Boyfriend wanted the recipe but I wouldn’t give it too him- that’s how much I prize this dish. The origins of the dish are somewhat of a mystery. My mom has been making it since the early seventies and she claims that the recipe was from an Asian co-worker of hers. She’s not sure why its called “cuban” chicken but she swears this is how the recipe went. She does not know where the co-worker came upon the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 bay leaf
Onion, chopped in long slices not finely
Green pepper, sliced into strips
Raisins
Olives
Oregano
Basil
Tomato Sauce, plain, very large can (28oz?)
1 chicken cut up

Assembly:
One reason I like this dish is that there is very little preparation involved. You need a big stock pot, cutting board and a knife, that’s it! To start, put a little of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pot and add some of the spices. Then add the chicken pieces (remove the skin from all the pieces but the legs- the sauce needs a little fat), the onions, green pepper, bay leaves, raisins (half cup?) and olives (more than you think would be good, they become amazing! and its okay to add a little olive juice) more spices and another layer of tomato sauce. Cook it on the stove top for an hour and a half and it becomes fall off the bone good. You want it bubbling but not too rapidly so the bottom layer doesn’t burn.

When you serve it, ideally you should have rice or cous cous as a base on your plate. I usually serve it family style with the pot in the middle of the table and have both a ladle and a strained spoon as serving wear so you can get the chicken pieces but also the good stuff in the sauce. It’s best if everyone can serve themselves because its hard to gauge who wants what in their good sauce. Once you have your rice/cous cous base, add the Cuban chicken but make sure you take all the peppers, olives, raisins and sauce that come out with it. The raisins will be plump, the peppers soft, the olives tangy but the taste is truly amazing. If you have leftovers, try it over pasta.

Bonus: While its slowly bubbling along on the stove, your house will smell delicious!