Arroz con Pollo aka Chicken with Rice

Never fails when you tempt fate it always returns and bites you in the butt. Point in fact, Maxer had 4 seizures yesterday. Now what did I say about him stretching it out for so long? Yup - jinxed it, didn't I.  He's fine - honest, other than the fact that by the time you get enough extra drugs in him to stop the seizures he's flying on one leg. By the end of today he'll be back to normal. Wish I could say the same about myself.  

After spending most of the day with a 21 pound schnauzer in my arms, I needed to come up with something for dinner that could practically cook itself. I've been meaning to make Arroz con Pollo for a long time so to end the procrastination, we had it last night for dinner. Arroz con Pollo is a popular spanish influenced South American dish and there's several different versions, with or without saffron. It's a great way to stretch a small amount of poultry by adding rice - it's comfort food at its finest, not unlike paella I might add.

I used a combination of a couple of recipes including one from Food & Wine to come up with this version. After browning chicken thighs and drumsticks in my favorite cast iron dutch oven, a "sofrito" of garlic, onions, bell pepper and bacon is cooked in the chicken juices until the vegetables are softened. Then cumin, sweet paprika, mexican oregano and cracked black pepper are added to the pot to mellow, followed by the chicken and eventually the rest of the ingredients. I used arborio rice which made the finished product creamy and wonderful. The big guy called it Spanish risotto and he wasn't too far off. The aroma hit him when he drove into the garage and he was salivating by the time he hit the kitchen.

By the way, saffron is not essential to the dish although we really enjoyed the flavor of it. It's not cheap but the small bottle I splurged for several years ago has lasted very well. You only need a pinch of it and remember, this is not one of those things that more is better. Personally I enjoy it's slightly bitter taste, never mind the gorgeous color it adds, but it's not for everyone so use it wisely. 

Unfortunately by the time we sat down to eat last night, the chicken had held too long so the rice was overdone. Next time I'll plan a little better. It was still delicious though and well worth the small effort it takes to put it together. For those of you who struggle to put dinner on the table every night, this could very easily be partially made the night before you're planning to serve it by cooking the sofrito and chicken, then placing it in the refrigerator over night. Warm it up the next night, add the rice with the liquid, and finish cooking - I swear you'd have dinner on the table in less than a half hour. Download Arroz con Pollo

Oh - one more thing. Those gorgeous little limes in the picture are from our Mexican lime tree in the back yard. They're ready, finally and the flavor is not to be believed. For all my complaining about Arid zona, in this respect we are blessed. Now let's see - Key/Mexican Lime Pie, Lime Curd, Lime Cheesecake, Margaritas, Margaritas, Margaritas ...mmm

Comments

[Mags]

Those doggie seizures are scary. My best friend's dog gets those too and it terrifies her every time it happens. I hope it's run its course for you June.

Your pollo looks like something I could handle. I even have the saffron somewhere. It's been awhile since I bought it though.

[JBug]

Thanks Mags. He's getting better though still showing the effects of the extra phenobarb.

I'd had the saffron for a long time too, but I used it anyway and the flavor was fine. Doesn't seem to have the short shelf life that lots of other spices do. Lucky!

[Sophia Mangalee]

Wow! I am cooking this right now and the aroma is amazing. It doesn't hurt that I'm helping the six pack of corona become five...four....three...well, you get the picture.

Hope this turns out. I came up a bit short on the rice so I tossed a little bit of my medium grain in just so it wouldn't be all runny.

So glad I printed this out when I first saw it because it was posted awhile ago. I NEED cookbook!

[June]

Hey - I'm so glad you're cooking this Sophia - it's pretty darn tasty! Geez, maybe I should start reposting recipes instead of worrying about having something new every night! No problemo on the cookbook but ya' gotta find me a publisher first! LOL