Chicken Mofongo

If I haven't posted about it yet, I absolutely LOVE Chow Stalker!  If you haven't checked it out, you should.  It is a blog with constantly updated Paleo, High Fat, Gluten Free, and Real Food recipes.  I have yet to find something on there that doesn't make my mouth water.  Plus, the best part is they are all healthy recipes!  The other day I was scouring Chow Stalker and found a recipe for Chicken Mofongo.  The picture looked delicious, but I had no idea what the hell Mofongo was.  After doing a little research, I learned that traditional Mofongo is a classic fried plantain dish originating from Puerto Rico.  Traditional Mofongo dishes are made from fried green plantains which are then mashed (like mashed potatoes) with olive oil, broth, garlic, and pork cracklings or bacon.  It sounds delicious, so I figured, what the hell, lets give it a try!

Turns out, it was better than delicious, it was fantastic.  It took a while to make and was pretty labor intensive to be honest.  The entire dish took about 1:10-1:20 to complete, start to finish and left me with a sink FULL of dirty pots and pans.  But, in the end, everyone loved it, including our picky kids.  If you're looking for something new to try, or always wanted to try a dish with plantains, here is a great option!

Ingredients

   

Mofongo:

• 4 Green Plantains
• 1/4 Cup Chicken Stock
• 4 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon
• 1 Tbsp Garlic, Minced
• Salt and Black Pepper to Taste

      Chicken Sauce:

• 2-3 Boneless Chicken Breasts, Cubed
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
• Medium-Small Onion, Diced
• Green Bell Pepper, Diced
• 2 Tbsp Cilantro, Chopped
• 2 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
• 15 oz Can Tomato Sauce
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock
• 3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 1/2 Tsp Cumin
• 1 Tsp Oregano
• 1 Tsp Coriander
• 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper

Directions

1. Peel plantains by cutting the outer peel with a knife and running your thumb between the plantain and the peel.
2. Cut the plantains into 1/2-1" disks and place into a put with water and 1 Tsp salt and allow to soak for about 15 minutes.  After they have soaked for 15 minutes bring water to a boil and boil plantains for 5 minutes, drain from the water and dry using paper towel.
3. Cook bacon in a frying pan, when fully cooked place onto a plate with paper towel to dry off excess grease.
4. Fry plantain disks in the same frying pan using the excess bacon grease.  You may need to add a little extra coconut oil if the bacon grease dries.  Fry until golden brown.
5. Dice the cooled, dried bacon
6. Add all Mofongo ingredients into either a food processor or mortar and pestel to mash to the consistency of traditional mashed potatoes.  Add Chicken Stock a little at a time as you mash the ingredients together, you may need to add more or less Chicken Stock to get the desired consistency.
7. To make the chicken sauce, first heat coconut oil in frying pan and saute the onion, pepper, garlic, and cilantro, for about 4 minutes, or until soft.
8. Add tomato sauce, red wine vinegar, and chicken stock, cook for another 3-4 minutes
9. Add chicken and remaining herbs and spices and cook until chicken is fully cooked.
10. To serve, ladle sauce onto plate and form Mofongo into baseball to softball size balls and place in center of plate.  Garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro. 

Boiling the plantains.

I used a food processor to mash the Mofongo.