Sweet Mimosa Pinã Colada

300gr bacon, beef or chicken. A meat of your choice. These go specially well. I prefer chicken tights. Diced

1 medium onion, diced.

Garlic minced (i used 2-4 pieces depending on size)

300gr carrot, cleaned, peeled and diced.

3 sticks of celery, washed and diced.

800gr potato. Washed, peeled diced in quarters.

1 head of broccoli.

8 cups of stock of your preference. I recommend using the bones of the beef or chicken, but veggies stock works too for a vegetarian or vegan version.

3 tablespoons all purpose flour.

1 cup whole milk. (Almond or rice milk work fine for a vegan option)

½ cup heavy cream. (Skip it for a vegan option)

Salt and black pepper to taste.

½ teaspoon paprika, use the spicy one to get the warmth up a notch in winter.

1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander. Optional.

1 cup diced gouda or manchego cheese. Optional but really ties all together.

Make sure you have all your ingredients ready and at hand for this one to make sure it comes out nice and tasty!!!

In a pot put water and the bones to prepare your stock (chicken, beef, veggie) You can use premade or bouillon cubes, just make sure its 8 cups worth of broth. In a different pot boil the potatoes until soft.

In a big pot put some butter or olive oil to fry the onion, when it turns a little transparent add the garlic, move constantly.

Add the celery and diced carrots, moving constantly.

The carrot will get a little brighter in color, add the diced meat. Salt and pepper to your taste.

Meanwhile, blend the potatoes with enough stock so your blender wont have trouble blending. If you have a food processor, it’ll be easier.

Ad the remaining stock to you big pot with the veggies and meat, add the broccoli chopped in bite size pieces. Add the paprika and taste for salt and pepper. Let over a medium fire for 10 min.

Separate 3 tbsp of the stock to mix with the flour, set aside. This will be a thickening agent.

Pour the potato mix on the big pot, move to integrate and taste for salt and pepper.

Add the milk and heavy cream. Move with a laddle. Have a final taste and let over low fire for 5 min.

Serve hot and decorate with a pinch of coriander and some cubes of cheese.

ENJOY!

Notes:

I personally prefer to use chicken, love how it goes with potatoes and veggies. Also the tight is very tender and flavorful. With beef you have to be careful not to overcook it or it’ll get gummy and hard to bite, so make adjustments.

VEGAN: could also skip the meat, cheese and heavy cream for a vegan option.

I make it for my younger sister and she loves it. Instead of meat i add some diced, toasted nuts when served. Cashew, pecan and pistachios work nicely.

You’ll have to use 5 tbsp of flour to thicken up the broth a tid bit more without the heavy cream but you can still use a vegan milk.

You can totally skip the coriander, but it adds another dept of flavor.

Do try it with the cheese tho, i promise it’s GODLY. Gouda and manchego are my fave, the melt nicely and have a strong after taste, but i guess any cheese that melts could work.

Finally, if you are like me and like spicy food you can add chopped chili. Serrano and arbol chiles are my go to’s, freshly chopped sprinkled just after serving my bowl.

Hope y'all give it a try and if you have any doubts do ask!

Substituted spinach for broccoli because my partner is not a fan of the latter and used chicken and bacon. Gonna try it again with a nice Italian sausage in place of the chicken next time.