ajiaco

I used to eat ajiaco at Timo's when I was especially cold, or feeling under-the-weather. It's a gorgeous Colombian chicken & potato soup with tasty garnishes. You use several sorts of potatoes - a starchy potato to thicken the soup, and slices of a waxy potato to chew on. Créme frâiche, corn, cilantro, capers, avocado, and a side of chunky salsa complete this meal-in-a-bowl. Jen, your grandmother's chicken soup reminds me of this one, a little.

Soup:
1 onion, diced small
1 tsp olive or peanut oil
5-8 oz roasted, shredded chicken meat
3/4 lb starchy potatoes, cut into chunks (I used red creamers)
1/3 lb waxy potatoes, in half-inch thick slices (fingerlings are fun)
5-6 cups chicken stock
1-2 cups corn kernels
1 tsp coriander
salt & pepper, to taste

To Garnish:
Chunky salsa, of choice
2 tbsp capers
créme frâiche or sour cream
avocado, diced
3 tbsp roughly chopped cilantro

1. Sautée the onion in the oil over high heat until it begins to color. Add chicken stock, and scrape up any tasty browned bits that have stuck to the bottom. Add the chunks of starchy potatoes. Add some salt, and the coriander.

2. Simmer soup until potatoes are tender (~20 minutes). Roughly purée. (Immersion/stick blenders are great for this.) Return to heat; add potato slices. Cook until slices are tender to the bite. Add corn; cook one more minute. Stir in chicken; adjust salt and pepper levels to your liking.

3. Ladle soup into wide bowls, and top with a generous spoon of créme frâiche, a teaspoon of capers, a handful of avocado, and some cilantro. Serve with a small bowl of chunky salsa on the side.

Notes: I leave the skins on my potatoes for this soup. Russell would prefer it if I peeled the sliced potatoes. Sometimes I do that when I'm not using fingerlings.

Posted by shock on January 31, 2005 | TrackBack