Causa Rellena

A gourmet dish of spicy mashed potatoes and shredded chicken, garnished with egg and vegetables, causa rellena makes for a great meal or afternoon snack. This afternoon, for my third weekly cooking lesson at Amigos, the acclaimed chef Ricardo (of tiradito de pescado fame) showed a small group of us how to prepare causa rellena. He did most of the cooking, we did most of the eating. Here's how you do it.

Ingredients

• 1kg papa amarilla ("yellow potato" — if unavailable outside Peru, find the nicest potatoes you can in your area)
• Vegetable oil
• 4 small chilis (2 ajis amarillos, or "yellow chilis", and 2 rocotos, or "red chilis")
• 3 limes
• 1 chicken breast fillet
• 1 tspn mayonnaise
• 5 celery sticks
• 2 eggs
• 1 avocado
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 4 black olives
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Wash the potatoes, and boil until cooked (don't peel yet).
2. Slice the chilis in half, and remove the seeds from the inside (dispose of seeds).
3. Cut the fat off the chicken breast, and boil the chicken until cooked.
4. Boil the chilis until soft.
5. Wash the celery, peel off the outer skin, and finely chop.
6. Take chilis off the stove, drain, and peel off skin.
7. Take potatoes off the stove, drain, and pull off skin while still hot.
8. Mash the potatoes.
9. Blend the chilis (ajis amarillos) with a splash of vegetable oil. Then blend the other chilis (rocotos) separately, also with oil.
10. Shred (i.e. tear apart) the boiled chicken breast.
11. Hard-boil the eggs until cooked.
12. Put the mash in two bowls (½ in each). Mix the rocoto paste, the aji amarillo paste into the other. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to both bowls, and mix thoroughly.
13. Mix the shredded chicken, celery, mayonnaise, and some more salt and pepper in a big bowl.
14. With each olive, cut the olive off from the seed, and finely slice.
15. Peel skin off avocado, and chop most of the avocado into small pieces (chop some into bigger slices).
16. Wash and finely chop the parsley.
17. Take off the eggs, and peel off the shells.
18. In a medium-sized, shallow container, place rocoto / potato mix, chicken mix, avocado and aji amarillo / potato mix in layers, and empty out onto the plate in a mound.
19. Garnish with chopped egg, olive, parsley, and avocado.
20. Resistence is futile. You know you gotta eat it without delay.

Note: sorry, no photos / videos this week, as I forgot my camera. I'll post links to other people's photos if they get put online.