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A common trait of Peruvian style cooking is the dual use of potatoes and rice. “Aji” is typical of that trait. “Aji” is a simple crowd pleasing dish that can be prepared as spicy or creamy as desired. I good naturedly think of “Aji de Gallina” as “Peruvian Chicken a la King”.

Aji de Gallina

1-2 skinless chicken breast halves
3 cups water
Salt & Pepper
3 slices white bread or day old rolls
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ red onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (or to suit) aji amarillo chili pepper paste (Peruvian yellow banana pepper)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
½ cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
Salt and pepper to suit
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2-3 hard boiled eggs
2-3 Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled and fork-peeled
3-4 black olives per servings
Parsley sprigs for garnish
2 cups cooked white rice

Boil the chicken uncovered over high heat for about 20 minutes. Season the water with salt and pepper, To suit, further season the water with bay leaf, garlic powder or other seasonings.

When cool enough to handle, fork-shred the chicken and set aside. Strain the stock and reserve.

Tear the bread into pieces and place in a bowl. Add one cup of the stock.

When the bread has absorbed the liquid, process or hand combine to form a paste. Reserve.

In a large fry pan, heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic over medium heat for about 10-minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Stir frequently not allowing onion & garlic to brown.

When cooked, add the aji amarillo. Once combined, add the dried oregano and cook an additional 5-minutes.

Add the bread and one cup of chicken stock to the fry pan for 3 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to thicken.

Stir in the shredded chicken, nuts, and cheese. Carefully season with salt & pepper allowing for the saltiness of the Parmesan cheese.

Stir in evaporated milk or half-and-half and turn off the heat.

Typically Aji de Gallina is a rich yellow color. Color is achieved by adding turmeric powder to the chicken mixture. Add by teaspoon until desired color is achieved. Turmeric is neutral in taste.

The mixture should be creamy. If too thick, stir in a bit of chicken stock or additional milk.

Fork-peel the boiled potatoes, cut in thick slices and place several pieces on each plate. Top with Aji de Gallina and serve with white rice at the side.

Garnish with hard boiled eggs; sliced, quartered or halved and purple Peruvian Botija olives, Kalamata olives or canned black olives.

Note: Jarred aji amarillo and Peruvian Botija olives are commonly stocked at most Latin or international grocery stores.

Yield: 4 servings

That sounds very good, and different.

For some reason over the past month, I’ve lost my appetite. I get hungry and think I want something, and usually everything i think of bores me; or if it’s good, I toss it half-eaten. (This is a VERY unusual situation ;-)

I saw these two very similar cucumber recipes today that sort of tempted me - one called ‘German’ and the other ‘Hungarian’. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of difference between them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfwNBp01xwU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POvJhJEMZ88

I also like a Korean version of a cucumber salad that my friends taught me:

http://mealsteps.com/recipe/oyi_namul__5bcucumber_salad_5d