Chicken Caldereta*

Posted on | March 4, 2009 | No Comments

*I think that’s what it’s called. This is a Filipino dish that I remember eating as a child. It’s “thrown together” so I’m giving you guesstimates of amounts and such.

8 chicken thighs (see my notes)
1/2 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbs. canola oil
1 small can tomato sauce
1 regular can (15 oz?) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 red bell pepper cut into 1″ chunks
1 can of green olives (save some of the liquid)
1 potato, diced (see my notes)
1/2 c. peas, frozen
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 small bay leaves
salt & pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic in oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken and brown on all sides.

Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add about 1/4 c. of the reserved liquid from the olives. Lower the heat to medium. Add cumin and bay leaves. Check first before adding salt and pepper since the liquid from the olives will be salty. Cover and let the meat simmer for about 10 minutes. Check to make sure that this isn’t browning. You should have enough liquid to come up half way up the chicken.

At this point, you’ll want to add the potatoes and olives, cover and simmer for a few more minutes.

Check to see if the chicken is done (about 20 minutes of a good simmer should do it). Keeping the heat low, add the peas and bell pepper chunks. You don’t have to defrost the peas. Let them simmer a few more minutes until the peas are heated through and the bell peppers are tender but not mushy.

Serve over rice.

NOTES:
I have no idea what this dish is really called. I think it’s caldereta and not afritada because the latter has liver or liverwurst added to it. Also, I didn’t have any, but normally, you do have potatoes in this dish so I added it to the list above. You could also add a small jar of pimentoes which I had but forgot to use. I am not exactly sure if I had 8 chicken thighs, it may have been more like 12. I used two packages from out of a six pack of chicken thighs from Costco. The amount may not even really matter but I thought I’d mention it because the amount I put in rendered enough liquid to make this dish nice and saucy. Caldereta, if memory serves me, can be made with any sort of meat (pork, beef) and not just chicken. Sometimes even more than one kind in one pot.

My hubby really liked this and the kids did, too, not complaining much about the veggie invasion that was on their plates. They simply ate around them!

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