Ajiaco Santafereño with Slow Chicken Stock and Poached Breast

Method

1. Put the chicken thighs, water, halved onion, whole spring onions, crushed garlic, the cilantro stems and part of the salt in a 24 cm pot. Bring almost to the boil on high heat, skimming off the foam carefully, then lower to low heat so the surface barely trembles and simmer uncovered for 50 min. A hard boil makes the stock cloudy.

   Add in this stepBone-in chicken thighs (for stock) 500 gWater 1,800 mlOnion ½Spring onions, whole 2Garlic cloves 3Cilantro (coriander), stems and leaves 3.6Salt ½ tsp

   high heat→low heat

2. Strain the stock through a fine sieve into a bowl. Pull the thigh meat off the bones in large pieces and set it aside; discard skin, bones and vegetables. Rinse the pot and pour the clear golden stock back in.

3. Coarsely grate half of the floury potato and cut the rest, and the waxy potato, into 1 cm slices. Add the grated potato, the sliced floury potato, the papas criollas and the corn cut into 3–4 cm rounds to the stock and simmer on medium heat for 15 min. The grated potato dissolves quickly and gives a velvety body without any flour.

   Add in this stepPapas criollas (small yellow potatoes) 250 gFloury potato (sabanera or russet) 220 gCorn on the cob 1

   medium heat

4. Add the waxy potato and the guascas and simmer on medium-low heat for 15 min, stirring often from the bottom, until the papas criollas have melted and the broth is yellow and creamy.

   Add in this stepWaxy potato (pastusa or Yukon Gold) 200 gGuascas (dried herb) 2 tbsp

   medium-low heat

5. Slide the whole chicken breast into the soup and poach it on low heat, the surface barely quivering, for 9 min. When the thickest part reaches 70 °C or shows no pink when cut, lift it out, rest it for 5 minutes and pull it into thick shreds. Season the soup with the remaining salt and the pepper.

   Add in this stepBoneless chicken breast 220 gSalt ¾ tspFreshly ground black pepper 1 pinch

   low heat

6. Divide the thigh meat and corn between bowls and ladle over the soup. Top with the breast, a ribbon of cream, capers, a fan of avocado slices and cilantro leaves.

   Add in this stepDouble cream 3 tbspCapers 1 tbspRipe avocado ½Cilantro (coriander), stems and leaves 2.4