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.