"Tostadas con Hogado y pollo" (Colombian Recipe)

I am a Colombian and this is my favorite meal. Actually, I won my wife's heart when I cooked this meal for her in one of our first dates ;). I can not think of a meal that can go wrong when you combine fried and crunchy stuff with chicken, a type of salsa and cheese?! This recipe has the originality of the traditional colombian cuisine and some twists my wife and I like to add ;) 


We are using chicken, but if you are vegetarian you can use mushrooms instead; I am pretty sure it would be delicious as well. For this meal you will need the following ingredients:


- 1 medium tomato
- 1/2 of a medium purple onion
- 4 small green onions
- 2 tbsp of cilantro
- 3 chicken breasts
- 2 green plantains
- 4 tabsp of olive oil
- 2 cups of vegetable oil
- spices: thyme, oregano, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper
- sour cream
- a mix of shredded  monterey jack and cheddar.


For the chicken:
Boil the chicken, until it is well cooked,  with the garlic, salt, thyme and oregano; or you could use your favorite spices. Once the chicken is ready, shredded it and preserve.

For the Hogado:
Hogado is a type of salsa that is very popular in Colombia. It is use as the principal seasoning for many dishes. To preprare the hogado: cut the onions and tomatoes in small squares. Finely chop the cilantro. Combine these ingredients with the spices, olive oil and 1 cup of the chicken broth (you can get it from the water you use to cook the chicken with). Cook in medium low for about 30 min.

The hogado will look kind of watery, but don't worry, as soon as you add the chicken it will suck up all that extra moist. When the hogado is ready, put it aside and add the chicken into the mix.

For the plantain tostadas:
Cut both ends of the plantains, about a couple of inches in.

Using a knife, make a cut in the skin from top to bottom along the plantain.

Using your fingers, remove the skin carefully to the sides and peel the plantain.

Cut the "naked" plantain into 4 equal parts for small tostadas. If you want bigger pieces you can cut it in thirds or even in half! Pre-heat the vegetable oil and place the plantain pieces once the oil is hot.

Once the plantain pieces are golden brown (slightly fried) take them out of the oil. Now, this is the tricky part: put a plastic bag in top of a cutting board, followed by one of the plantain pieces.

Fold the plastic bag on top of the plantain and, using a board, smash the plantain until is about 1/4 of an inch thick.

Awesome! you got yourself one tostada. Now, repeat the same process with the rest of the plantain pieces. After you are done with this, fry the tostadas for about two minutes on each side.

At this point you are almost done. Now, put the mix of chicken and hogado in top of the tostadas. Top it with the cheese and sour cream. Enjoy!! As strange as this might sound, this meal goes great with a Merlot. Give it a try and let me know how it goes...Happy cooking!