Guatemala…

Friday, February 1 –

Quite a few of my wonderful friends came to this dinner, people missing from these dinners for quite a while. We got to welcome back: BestieExtraordinaire (guacamole, chips) , Mistress Whiskey (wine), WingWoman (chocolate coffee mousse dessert), LightsOn (wine), RubsWithLove, and Sir VJ (salad).

I made the rice, chicken drumsticks, and the Jocón recipe below. When I put the rice into the rice cooker I used half water and half chicken broth. I also added cilantro and onion to it before it was cooked. For the drumsticks I melted butter and added chopped garlic, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and chili powder. I brushed the mix across the drumsticks and baked them in the oven at 375* for about 35 minutes.

For the Guatemalan chicken recipe I cheated just a little bit – I used a slow-roasted chicken from the grocery store. BestestFianceEver helped get all of the meat off the bones and shredded into the pan. Then I took all of the veggies and sauce ingredients (using all sesame seeds instead of half pumpkin seeds) and threw them all into my food processor. After everything was perfectly chopped and blended I dumped the sauce over the chicken and let simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

While everyone was waiting on the chicken to be done, we snacked on the guacamole and chips, which was supposed to be turned into a salad but because we already had a salad we kept it as a dip. Then dinner was served with the salad, the dressing for the salad that we didn’t quite make, the chicken with sauce over the rice, and drumsticks on the side. The salad was bright and flavorful with mango and avocado. The rice was a great complement to the sauce on the chicken. Because I used four whole jalapenos in the sauce it had a little kick, but not too much. And the drumsticks on the side were just a fun addition. All in all I vote this dinner a success.

The dessert was supposed to be a mousse, but because of a few substitutions that WingWoman made it ended up more like delicious chocolate soup with fresh blueberries on top. Not quite what the recipe meant, but yummy anyway!

Only a few more G countries left – hope to see more potluck bloggers soon!

Guatemala
(recipe borrowed from the cooks at: www.whats4eats.com)

Jocón (Guatemalan chicken in tomatillo-cilantro sauce)

• Chicken, cut into serving pieces — 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
• Water — 4 cups
• Salt — 2 teaspoons
• Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) — 1/4 cup
• Sesame seeds — 1/4 cup
• Corn tortillas, chopped, soaked in water, drained — 2
• Tomatillos, hulled and chopped — 1 cup
• Cilantro, chopped — 1 bunch
• Scallions, chopped — 1 bunch
• Jalapeño or serrano chile pepper, chopped — from 1 to 5
• Rice to serve

Method:

Place the chicken, water and salt into a large pot over medium-high flame. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove the chicken to a bowl and strain and set aside the broth. Let chicken cool, then remove the meat from the bones and shred it with your fingers. Set aside.

Heat a dry skillet over medium flame. Add the pumpkin and sesame seeds and toast, stirring, until lightly browned. Remove to a coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder.

Add the sesame and pumpkin seeds, tortillas, tomatillos, cilantro, scallions and chile peppers to a food processor or blender. Add 1 cup of the reserved broth and process until smooth. If using a blender you may have to do this step in batches.

Return the chicken to the pot. Pour over pureed sauce and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the remaining broth to give it a sauce-like consistency.

Heat over medium-low flame and simmer for an additional 15-25 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Jocon Variations:

Leave the chicken pieces whole if you prefer.

If you can’t find pumpkin seeds, simply use 1/2 cup of sesame seeds. And if finding sesame seeds is a problem, you can substitute a slightly smaller amount of tahini.

Cubed pork can be substituted for the chicken. There is no need to shred the pork, but you may need to simmer it longer for it to become tender.

Use any remaining broth to make rice to accompany the meal.