Chicken and Mango Braise
Ingredients
- 1 large mango, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
- 1 cup roughly chopped vidalia onion
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juices
- 1 teaspoon achiote (annato) powder
- 1 chipotle chile in adobo
- 1 teaspoon adobo
- 1 large garlic clove, quartered
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 chicken (4-4 1/2 pounds), cut into 8 portions and patted dry
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
In a blender, combine the mango, onions tomatoes, achiote powder, chipotle, adobo, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce; blend until smooth and set aside. In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, and being careful not to crowd the pieces in the pan, brown the chicken well on all sides; they should be a deep golden color. Turn off the heat and transfer the chicken to a plater; set aside.
Remove all but 2 teaspoons of the rendered fat from the pan. Heat the fat in the pan over medium-high heat, add the sauce (be careful; the sauce will splatter briefly), and stir well, making sure to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the salt, pepper, and oregano; return the chicken pieces to the pan. bring the liquid to a boil; cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through (the juices will run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork). Serve over white rice.
Serves 4-6
NOTE: This dish freezes and reheats beautifully, so feel free to make it ahead of time.
From The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes that Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America and the American South. Copyright © 2011 by Sandra A. Gutierrez. Used by permission of the University of North Carolina Press. www.uncpress.unc.edu
