Chicken in Pepita (Green Pumpkin Seed )Sauce

Deelady

New member
Chicken in Pepita (Green Pumpkin Seed )Sauce

You Will Need
1 large white onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt, about 1 1/2 teaspoons
1 good-size (3-pound) chicken, cut into quarters
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
A generous 1 cup (about 4 1/2 ounces) hulled pumpkinseeds (pepitas)
12 large sprigs cilantro, roughly chopped, plus a few extra sprigs for garnish
3 small romaine leaves, roughly chopped
2 large radish leaves, roughly chopped
Hot green chilies to taste (roughly 3 serranos or 2 small jalapeños), stemmed and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

1. The chicken: In a large (6-quart) pot, bring 8 cups of water to a boil. Add half of the onion and garlic, all the carrot, 1 teaspoon of the salt and the chicken back
(if you're lucky enough to have a separated one), neck, heart and giblets. Skim off any foam that rises after a minute or two, partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
Add the dark meat quarters, skim again after a couple of minutes, then add the bay, thyme and marjoram, partially cover and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the breast quarters,
skim when the liquid returns to the simmer, partially cover and cook 13 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let the chicken cool for a few minutes in the broth.
Remove the breast and leg quarters from the broth and set aside. Strain the broth, discarding the solids, and spoon off any fat that rises to the top.
2. The pumpkin seeds: In a large (10-to 12-inch), heavy skillet set over medium heat, spread out the pumpkinseeds and toast, stirring regularly, until all have popped (from flat to rounded) and turned golden (no darker);
once they start popping, the whole process shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes. Spread out on a plate to cool; reserve a couple of tablespoons for garnish.
3. The sauce: In a blender, combine the cooled pumpkinseeds with the remaining half of the onion and garlic, the cilantro, romaine, radish leaves and green chiles. Add 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth and blend to a smooth puree.
Heat the oil in a large (4-quart), heavy saucepan over medium. Add the puree and stir constantly until very thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in 2 cups of the broth (you'll have about 4 cups broth left over for soup or another sauce),
partially cover and simmer 20 minutes; the sauce will look coarse at this point.
4. Scrape the sauce into a blender, loosely cover and blend to a smooth puree; if necessary add a little extra broth (or water) to give the sauce a medium consistency.
Rinse your saucepan, return the blended sauce to it, taste and season with salt, usually a 1/2 teaspoon.
Add the chicken and warm (but don't bring to a simmer) over medium-low heat, about 10 minutes.
5. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter, then ladle the sauce over and around it,
decorate with the reserved pumpkinseeds and cilantro sprigs, and it's ready to serve.
 

Calicolady

New member
I love pepitas. Even with the large hispanic population, they became difficult to find lately. But I can eat them by the handful.
I'm keeping this one for when I do.
Thanks Dee.
 

Calicolady

New member
Here are their locations:

Atlanta | Austin | Boston | Chicago | Dallas | Denver | Houston | Las Vegas | Los Angeles | Miami | Nashville | New York | Oakland | Philadelphia | Portland | Raleigh | San Diego | San Francisco | San Jose | Seattle

Nothing within 100-150 miles.
The problem is, food store managers aren't hispanic, they hire hispanic, but don't know the culture, so less and less taking care of the needs of the community. Like last week when I went looking for plantain. I can't even get it at the farmers' market.

I think I'll try the cuban market, where I get my choriso.
Thanks, Dee.
 

Deelady

New member
there must be more locations than that because there is one next to me....but chances are if you are not aware of one near you then there isn't one :(
If you still can't find any let me know andI'll ship you some! ;)
 
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