Chicken Afritada

Afritada is one of my favorite Filipino comfort foods.  There is something about the combination of tomatoes, potatoes and bell pepper mashed in white rice.  I remember when I was a child, pork afritada was a staple in every neighborhood party.  In the country, many people just crash a party uninvited and this is the go-to dish to feed these many "extra" guests.  Rice soaked in pork afritada is distributed and was pretty much enough to satisfy the hungry guests.  

This is the chicken version of the dish.  As much as I love this dish I have never cooked it at home because I was not confident my better half will like it.  This time I had to tell him it is a Spanish dish (well sort of) so he can be more open in trying it.  I believe fish sauce is traditionally used in this dish but I omitted that and used soy sauce and bouillon to add flavor.  I also added a splash of wine, not necessary, but I had some left over white  wine so I though - why not.  The results?  It was delicious and tasted exactly how I remember it.  

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken - (use cut-up whole chicken or assortment of your favorite parts)
2 tablespoon Olive oil
2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1 14oz can tomato sauce
2 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 chicken stock
1 green bell pepper, sliced in strips
1 medium carrot, sliced or cubed if desired
3 big russet potatoes - peeled and quartered

1) Heat 2 tablespoons oil and brown chicken a few pieces at a time. Set aside.
2) Saute onion, carrots, tomatoes and garlic. Add wine and deglaze the pan, scraping the browned bits at the bottom.
3) Add add tomato sauce, broth, bay leaf, black pepper, soy sauce, bouillon. Bring to a boil.
4) Add back chicken into the pan. Boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
5) Add potatoes, and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
6) Add green pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
7) Serve over hot brown rice.