Month: March 2007

Hi all

Here’s a very nice recipe. The first time I prepared it, it made me feel all glowy inside. True soulfood. It’s called Arroz con Pollo, which means Rice with Chicken in Spanish. It’s an easy, stove-top, one-pan dish.

Chicken
olive oil
2.5 to 3 pounds of chicken thighs or breasts, bone-in, with skin on, rinsed and patted dry
flour for dredging
paprika powder
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Rice
olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups of medium or long-grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup of diced fresh or cooked tomatoes, strained
pinch of oregano
salt

Directions
1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet (a skillet that has a cover) on medium high heat. Put the flour in a wide bowl, mix in a generous sprinkling of salt, paprika powder and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in the flour mixture and put in the pan to brown. (You can skip the flour dredging part if you want, it just makes a nicer coating for the chicken.) Cook a few minutes on each side, just enough so that the chicken has browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Add the rice to the pan to brown. Add a little more olive oil if necessary. Stir first to coat the rice with the olive oil in the pan. Then don’t stir too much or you will prevent it from browning. Let it brown and then stir a little to let more of it brown. Then add the onion and garlic. Cook the onion, garlic and rice mixture, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened, about 4 minutes.

3. Place the chicken pieces, skin-side up, on top of the rice. In a separate bowl, mix together the stock, tomato, salt, and oregano. Pour the stock mixture over the rice and chicken. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cover. Let cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice until the rice and chicken are done. Fluff the rice with a fork. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

You can also add chopped bell peppers (cook with the onions), peas (mix in at the end), or use a bit of saffron with the rice.

Serves 4-6, thumbs up!