Ahh yes, cumin, cumino as pronounced down south way
, use it extensively in my "tex-mex" recipes.
For instance "Caldo de polo" (cal-do de po-yo) , or easily pronounced "chicken soup" :biggrin:, mexican style.
Not on paper anywhere, watched my ex mother in law make it a few times and then i did as well several times till it comes out right.
Youll need 1 whole chicken, or whichever you prefer, breasts, thighs etc. (no dirty jokes here) at least 2-3 lbs of chicken, 2-3 cups of rice, fresh cilantro, 1 or 2 sprigs,and some cumino, 1/4 to 1/2 of an onion, type your preference, i use the white onions. And potentially a cup or 2 of stock (hopefully you have some homeade stock in reserve if not use some good stuff , never skimp on homeade recipes)
It's rather simple really, use a dutch pot, stew pot or 2-3 gallon pot, add a couple table spoons of butter(or EVO if you prefer, i like the butter taste for richness myself, NO margarine!!) on medium heat slice/dice your garlic and onion and add them to the butter first and saute until almost emulsified then add you cilantro and a teaspoon of cumino, now add your chicken and brown the outside for 10 minutes maybe to get some flavor in the pan.
Once the chicken is partly done , youll need to add several cups of water, atelast double the amount per cups of rice you intend to use, (other wise the rice will absorb all your broth and the soup will be no longer
). Add your stock as well, combined with the water , the remainder of your cilantro if any, several more teaspoons of cumino, make sure the chicken is completely covered by the stock/broth, now bring to a slow boil/simmer until the chicken is almost done (at which point you could de-bone if you prefer, mother in law always left hers in for "flavor" she says).
Once your comfortable that the chicken is near done add your 2-3 cups of rice and cook until done, should server 6-8 folks, could make some mexican cornbread to go with it, and the dish wasnt necissarily intended to be spicy although its a mexican dish, so you could potentially spice it up if youd like, most of all make sure theres a 2/3 to 1 ratio of broth to rice for it to truly be "soup" , basic and simple but done right its phenominal and hearty, specially this time of the yr.
Hope some of you try and enjoy, and if youd like we can continue this thread and share many more great recipes !!
