Also, my first ever attempt at using bone in chicken - SUCCESS! As with all things I don't have a clue about, I looked up a how-to cut up a chicken vid. I used this one from the NY times.
Looking for something exciting to cook for my parents. My dad is strictly a meat and potatoes kind of guy and only veggie he doesn't mind is peas. I know. In an effort to find a dish that wasn't boring to me to cook and acceptable to my dad's palate, I cam across Arroz Con Pollo in my "How to Cook Everything App". I used a variation of Mark Bittman's Arroz Con Pollo recipe, and a hybrid of several other recipes and tips from googling "Arroz Con Pollo". Many recipes call for saffron but who has saffron? Came out really great and I got over my fear of butchering a chicken. Here's what I did...
Broke down the chicken into pieces. Also, cut each of the breasts in half to have similar size pieces of chicken throughout. OK, so I did have a little help from the grocery here, as I bought a halved bone, in chicken. One day, I'll break down a whole bird. Baby steps, baby steps.
Arroz Con Pollo
Makes: 4 servings
Time: About 1 hour
3 cups chicken or other stock, or water
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large or 2 medium onions, sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups short-grain white rice
1 tbsp cumin
3/4 tbsp ground thyme
1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 8 pieces, or any combination of parts
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish
Lemon or lime wedges for serving
In a large skillet, add some olive oil and brown the chicken pieces. Set pieces aside.
Warm the stock while you cook the onions. Put the olive oil in a
large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the onions and a
sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the
onions soften and become translucent, 5 to 10 minutes.
Add the rice to the onions and stir until it’s coated with oil, a
minute or two; add cumin and thyme.
Nestle the chicken pieces in the rice, and pour in the warmed stock. Bring the mixture to a boil;
adjust the heat so that the mixture bubbles gently but steadily.
Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until all the liquid is
absorbed and the chicken is cooked through. Add the peas. (At this point, you may keep the dish warm over very
low heat for another 15 minutes, and it will retain its heat for 15
minutes beyond that and still be good warm rather than hot.) Garnish
with parsley and serve with lemon or lime wedges.
This dish was a hit! Chicken was moist and fall-off the bone tender. I'll be making it again.
