Ancient Cuisines: Pueblo Chicken

Long overdue. But perhaps just in time for Thanksgiving, if your family, like mine, does not care too much for roast turkey.

Pueblo Chicken

Based on a recipe from Spirit of the Harvest, North American Indian Cooking by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs

The original recipe uses rabbit, a major source of protein for Southwestern tribes. Rabbits were hunted by lighting fires around an area where they were abundant; the hunters then gradually moved in, trapping the animals from all sides. Rabbits were offered as ceremonial sacrifices and then eaten as part of ritual foods.

I haven't eaten rabbit but I am told it is like a leaner version of chicken, which is slowly fading in popularity at our dinner table but is still preferred to turkey.

• 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• Salt to taste

1. Dice chicken into bite size pieces
2. Heat oil in a heavy stockpot and brown the chicken well.
3. Add onion, chicken broth, water, red wine vinegar and red chilli powder.
4. Simmer, partially covered for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the chicken is tender.
5. Add salt and then slowly add the cornmeal, stirring as you pour. You do not want lumps.
6. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes until the sauce is slightly thick.
7. Serve with Ute tortillas

This is a great tasting thick stew. We imagined ourselves to be sitting by an open fire with the stew simmering over it. We ate with our hands, tearing pieces of the tortillas, to dip into the stew. We licked our fingers as the stew dribbled down them and decided to cook this stew the next time we went camping in the mountains. What a treat it will be to eat it out under the stars!