Sancocho de Gallina (Chicken and Vegetable Stew)

Ingredients

• •1 ½ quarts chicken stock
• •1 yucca, peeled and cut into 1 inch by 1 inch by 1 inch pieces
• •2 plantains, peeled, halved, and sliced into thirds longitudinally
• •2 red potatoes, peeling optional, cut into chunks
• •3 whole chicken breasts, skinned and quartered with bones left on
• •juice from two lemons
• •1 teaspoon cumin
• •1 bunch scallions
• •1 bunch cilantro
• •roux:
• •2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• •2 tablespoons butter, mixed and microwaved for 30 seconds into a yellowish sludge
• •salt and pepper

Directions

1. 1In one cup of chicken stock, simmer scallions, cilantro, and cumin for a few minutes. Set it aside until it is cool, then process it into a smooth, green-colored flavoring element to be added to the final soup.
2. 2In the remaining 1 and 1/4 quarts of chicken stock, simmer the quartered, skinned chicken breasts. Scum which floats off the chicken breasts as they start to cook may be skimmed off with a ladle, and discarded. The chicken will take about an hour to cook.
3. 3As the chicken starts to simmer, add cut-up, peeled yucca, and cut-up potatoes. You may continue to skim off scum after the yucca and potatoes are in the soup.
4. 4About a half hour from completion time, add cut-up plantains. Plantains are more delicate, and require less cooking time that other elements of the soup.
5. 510 minutes before completion time, add the processed scallions-cilantro-cumin, and the juice from 2 lemons.
6. 6Add roux to bind the soup, stirring to mix it well. Make sure the potatoes and yucca are cooked to softness, and examine a piece of chicken to check for doneness.
7. 7If overcooked, the yucca, potato, and plantain disintegrate, but their rich flavors remain. Add salt and pepper to taste.