Escape the heat and humidity of a sultry Florida spring day by inviting good friends over for lunch and preparing for them a sumptuous meal sure to titillate your hungry guests. They won’t soon forget your chicken fricassee. That’s a promise.

Ingredients:

An entire chicken in parts (serves 4 – 6)
1 medium onion
4 – 5 garlic cloves
7 oz can of whole red pimientos
ground cumin
Golden cooking wine
A bottle of McCormick Perfect Pinch (original chicken)
tomato sauce
olives stuffed with red pimientos
bay leaves
coarse kosher salt
Cooking Instructions: Part I

Defrost chicken and rinse with water.
Separate into parts and remove all skin to cut down on fat content. In addition, remove any innards or viscera.
Rinse chicken anew with hot water.
Cut breast into several smaller pieces.

Cleaned chicken parts.
Use a sharp knife to cut slits into bigger pieces to allow seasoning to penetrate.
Place chicken in a large bowl and add salt to taste.
Pour ¾ of a cup of cooking wine over the chicken and sprinkle ground cumin. Do a salt taste.
Set chicken aside for now to allow it to absorb seasoning.

Chicken in cooking wine.
Preparation of seasoning or sofrito

Peel medium onion and rinse with water. Chop onion and place in electric chopper.
Slightly crush 4 – 5 garlic cloves with kitchen hammer to remove peel and release flavor.
Cut garlic cloves into smaller pieces and place together with chopped onion in electric chopper to mince.
In a large cooking pot, place 3 – 4 tablespoons of cooking oil and heat at medium heat.
Place minced garlic and onion in the pot and sauté.
Cut 3 ½ oz of red pimientos into smaller pieces and mince in electric chopper.
Add 3 – 4 tablespoons of tomato sauce to the seasoning. Add minced pimientos and sauté.
For additional flavor, sprinkle McCormick Perfect Pinch original chicken condiment.
Cooking Instructions: Part II

When the seasoning is ready, place the chicken in the pot with the seasoning, and stir. Add a bay leaf.

Seasoned chicken begins to cook.
Cover pot and let chicken simmer for about an hour or until chicken is tender.
After 15 minutes or so, add a cup of plain water, 8 – 10 olives, and do a salt taste.
Let chicken simmer for the remainder of the time.
After and hour, chicken should be done.

Chicken fricassee after 1 hour.
Let simmer at low heat for an additional 20 -25 minutes to allow chicken to dry a little.

Chicken fricassee is ready to serve.
Serve on a bed of white rice with your favorite salad.

Chicken fricassee served on a bed of rice.

Sources:MyCubanRecipes/InternetPhotos/TheCubanHistory.com
Cuban Chicken Fricassee/ The Cuban History/ Arnoldo Varona, Editor

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