Panama: Sancocho, Part II

I've successfully completed my first solo global cooking adventure, a sancocho from Panama. I did pretty well finding all of the ingredients (this was a fairly easy one). The only thing I didn't find was the plantains, but admittedly I didn't try very hard. Florida might as well be the 28th official Spanish-speaking country, and my local grocer usually has plantains (and an assortment of other ingredients common in traditional Latino cooking) on hand. Not today! And I was too lazy to look elsewhere. I also used a yam instead of a sweet potato, since they're pretty much the same thing anyway.

As I scoured the veggie section for my root veggies, I came upon a yucca. I've never cooked with one before, but remembered seeing it in one of the recipe variations I looked at. What the heck? I decided to live on the wild side and toss one in for good measure. The yucca is a white, potato-like root vegetable that has a thick brown skin on it. It was surprisingly easy to peel, and not that difficult to slice. About the same thickness as a sweet potato. I thought it had a texture and taste similar to a mild coconut.

So here's how I did it. As always, I'm not big on measurements. I'll give rough estimates, but use your best judgment and flavor to taste! The end product is a rich tasty stew that highlights the earthy taste of the root vegetables. You can taste the sweetness of the carrots and the sweet potatoes, balanced by the chiles, onions and garlic that give a kick to this dish. A fun and hearty take on chicken soup. I ate mine with a carmenere from Chile.

P.S. - My friend Emily thinks I need to get back to making the blog more personal. What can I say, it's been a tough week getting back from traveling and my ultra exciting trip to NY (recall, the Bobby Flay situation). And believe it or not, preparing that German feast was pretty exhausting. Plus, there were several post-birthday celebrations this week. But seeing as Emily is trapped in Senegal in the Peace Corps and relies on quasi-lame and unexciting stories from my life for entertainment, I will try harder to be more exciting in the future.

Ingredients:

Canola oil
3 yellow onions

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Oregano

Salt

Pepper

1 quart chicken broth

1 sweet potato (or yam)

1 potato

1 yucca

3 carrots

About six cloves of garlic

About 4 tbsps. chopped cilantro

1 cup of green onions

Dried chiles

1 can of diced tomatoes

2 ears of corn

What I did:

I start by heating some canola oil in a large soup pot. I slice one of the onions into thin half circles and then throw those in and let them start cooking. Then I add the chicken, season with some oregano, salt and pepper and cook until the meat is done. Scoop out the chicken and onions and put in a bowl for later. (I use one of the onions so the chicken can absorb the flavor as it cooks). Save the juices in the pot to cook the root vegetables.

I cut the root veggies into cubes about an inch each way and add them to the pot in the order I think they will take longest to cook: sweet potato, yucca, potato, carrot As they cook and get tender, I gradually add chicken broth to the pot so they always have a little bit of liquid to cook in. I slice the rest of the onions into half rounds and throw those in, then season the mix with some more (maybe two tablespoons) of oregano, salt, pepper and chiles (I like things spicy) and let cook for a few minutes. As they're cooking, I add the cilantro, green onions and tomatoes.

After the root veggies are pretty soft, I add the rest of the chicken broth and the corn (broken into half ears). I cut the chicken from the first step into chunks and add it (with the cooked onions) to the pot. Bring to a boil and then let simmer. The longer the better because the flavors will meld more. I always like my soups thicker, closer to a stew so I let mine go quite a while to thicken.