Did you miss me? I must say, it was pretty weird not being around yesterday, but hopefully, today’s post will more than make up for it.
Arroz Con Pollo has been everywhere on the blogosphere lately, but I had to join in the fun. I mean, it’s basically a combination of my two favorite things: comfort food + Mexican (or really south american/spanish, but you know what I mean). How could I say no? Although, I must preface this by saying this is not the most authentic arroz con pollo in the world, but like always, we adapted to meet the needs of our own kitchen and fridge.
According to the ever informative e-how Food section,
Arroz con pollo or chicken with rice is a popular dish throughout Spanish-speaking nations. Although claimed to be a dish native to the Caribbean or Latin America, this dish has roots in the motherland of Spain. Arroz con pollo dates back to the eighth century when the Moors occupied Spain and influenced the way they imported and exported goods, along with the way they ate.
Basically, it’s kinda like a risotto but with different seasonings and veggies–true comfort food.
We started by roasting a half of a chicken in our le creuset pot in the oven until cooked all the way through. While the chicken cooked, we made the sofrito , the fancier name for sauteing aromatics and veggies in olive oil.
Next, we added the rice and chicken broth. While grocery shopping that morning, I stumbled across these cute little 8 ounce servings of broth that came in a 4-pack. We seem to always have broth leftover that goes to waste, so I thought this was brilliant–no more pouring broth down the drain! And then we started adding broth to the rice…and use 3d of the 4 eight ounce containers, i.e., an entire regular container of broth. Whoops!
Seriously though, this is some good stuff. I’ve eaten leftovers for lunch the past 2 days and even Jeff ate some for lunch one day, re-imagined in cheesy burrito form, because you know, it needed more salt + fat. At least he ate it–without my prompting!
I’d love to hear suggestions about what you put into your arroz con pollo for next time!
Arroz Con Pollo
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/2 whole chicken
Chicken Spice Rub:
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups rice
24 ounces chicken broth
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1/2 Anaheim chili, chopped
1 cup cilantro
1/2 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
olive oil
water
Steps:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Create spice rub for chicken by combining paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan. Coat chicken with spice rub and cook for 5 minutes on high heat. Place in ceramic pot (like a le creuset) and cook, with lid on, for 30 minutes. Add 2 cups of water to deglaze and remove lid. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes, or until skin browns and chicken is cooked all the way through. Remove chicken from pot and let rest.
For the sofrito, heat olive oil in a medium frying pan and add onion, garlic, bell pepper, tomatoes, jalapeno, and anaheim. Saute for about 2 minutes and then transfer to the food processor along with the cilantro. Pulse until roughly combined (there should still be small chunks of the veggies).
While the sofrito cooks, roughly chop the chicken.
Add the rice to the pot that held the chicken (to keep the juices) and cook until the rice becomes translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add the veggies, chicken, and half of the broth. Slowly add the broth until the rice is cooked and liquid becomes almost completely absorbed, stirring constantly, about 20-30 minutes.
Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Time: 70 minutes
