This dish takes advantage of the myriad of potatoes available in the Andean region of South America. Great for a main dish or as a starter.
This hearty soup stems from Bogota, the capital city of Colombia. It is a simple potato and chicken recipe that uses three types of potatoes: criolla, pastusa, and sabanera.
Lately the impending food crisis is looming high about all our heads. Biodiesel, fertilizer, increased meat consumtion, barrels of oil reaching new highs every day, and the everyday need to put food in our bellies is making things worse and worse. It is all enough to make a girl want a warm comforting bowl of soup that with south the soul and the stomach.
Potatoes seem to be the cure at this point. The United Nations has declared this the year of the potato and this recipe delivers. With three variaties of our favorite tubber this soup devliers both flavor and satisfaction. If you are short on potato varies, use what you have on hand. The deep chicken flavor and hint of paprika is really what makes this dish memorable.
The starch from the different potatoes thickens the soup quite nicely. By the end you should have anice thick broth that is both flavorful and dense. It takes some time to boil the tators down to the consistency you want, but your efforts with vbe rewarded.
Ajiaco Colombiano
Serves 6
Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- One chicken quartered (you may just use chicken breasts, but the dark meat adds so much more flavor)
- 1 lb. of criolla potatoes, quartered (tiny white boiling potatoes)
- 1 lb. of pastusa potatoes, diced in large chunks (substitute any medium or small dark colored potato if you can find it)
- 1 lb. of sabanera potatoes, diced into large chunks (substitue Idaho or local big ole white potatoes)
- 1 gallon or water, more or less
- 1 medium onion, diced fine
- 1 medium tuber of yuca, cut into two inch cubes
- 2 tsps. paprika
- 3 cups milk
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Procedure
- Fry chicken pieces on highish heat in oil in a large pot to brown andflavor. Remove chicken to a plate. (Some recipes call for shredded chicken. You would cook chicken this way and then cover with water and boil for a half an hour and then pull with two forks when cooled. It's easier to eat, but less rustic and more work.)
- In same grease fry onions until translucent.
- Dump in all the potatoes, water, yuca, and paprika.
- Boil for an hour to allow all the ingredients to cook and the flavors to meld.
- Serve.
Serving Recommendations
This is a grat soup with a quarter avocada spooned on top, a dob of sour cream, and a sprinkle of green scallions.
