Tostadas de Pollo by Carlos Jax

Continuing with the South American theme (we seem to be hooked these days), here's a recipe you will all love. Our friend Carlos came to visit us last week and made chicken tostadas, a traditional Mexican street food found throughout the country. This is a very simple recipe using fresh, simple ingredients. It got a little more complicated for us though as we decided to make the corn tortillas from scratch, which requires time and patience… Overall: great success and thanks to Carlos who brought us a tortillero machine, we can now try this recipe in many different variations from home. Keep an eye out for future recipes…

Tostadas de pollo (serves 5 people)

15-20 x corn tortillas

4 x chicken breasts

1 x peeled onion

2 x fresh tomatoes

A bunch of coriander

1 x fresh chili

1 tsp of ground cumin

Salt & pepper

1) Place the chicken breasts to boil in a large pan with one tablespoon of vegetable bouillon. Add one whole peeled onion and 3 whole garlic cloves. Add the bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste and cook for 20-30minutes.

2) Once done, remove the chicken and set aside. Keep the chicken broth from the pan on low heat to finish off the soup later.

3) Shred the chicken breasts into pieces, then mix in the chopped tomatoes, onion, chili and coriander. Add one teaspoon of ground cumin, salt and pepper. If the chicken is a bit dry, add a couple of table spoons of chicken broth to keep moist. Your filling is ready.

4) Serve with extra chopped coriander, tomatoes and onions, shredded lettuce and top off with spicy salsa and sour cream. You can also add a variety of ingredients such as cheese and avocados, just remember the more you add, the messier it gets (but the better the taste)!

Our home-made corn tortillas

Tostadas de Pollo

Consome de Pollo (chicken soup)

chicken broth

1 x tablespoon vegetable bouillon

1 x tablespoon olive oil

1 x onion

1 x can of chick peas

1.5 x cup of cooked rice

2 x bay leaves

3 x cloves of garlic

the juice of 2 limes

salt & pepper

fresh coriander for topping

1) The chicken broth should already have the vegetable bouillon, onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

2) Drain the chickpeas and add to the broth and allow to cook for a further 10 minutes.

3) Remove from the heat and add the juice of 2 limes and the cooked rice.

4) Serve with freshly chopped coriander, onion and lime juice to taste.

Consome de Pollo