Arroz con Pollo

Fresh spices have taken over our lives. We've moved on from our vanilla beans and onto saffron. While expensive, you use a very small amount to achieve a very satisfying flavor. Adding saffron to rice gives it a subtle flavor and a wonderful yellow color. 

Chicken and rice is an easily customizable dish, with a savory flavor made up of a number of vegetables. We put our spin on the classic Joy of Cooking recipe and did without the Dutch oven, ham and green olives. 

Very important tip: make sure the chicken is very brown and almost crispy before combining it with the rice mixture. This prevents overcooking the rice from cooking too long and sticking to the bottom of the pot. Making sure the chicken is well cooked also avoids a mushy dish, where all the textures melt into each other. 

This meal takes some time to prepare, but the reward is almost a whole week's worth of dinner for at least two people. 

Prep time: 30-40 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3.5-4.5 pounds of chicken parts. The more variety the better
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups uncooked long grain white rice 3 cups chicken broth
• 3-4 strands of saffron, roughly 1/4 teaspoon 
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 red pepper, diced
• salt, pepper to taste

Optional:

• 1/4 cup chopped green olives
• pimentos
• 1/2 cup of diced ham
• pinch of oregano
• 1 green pepper, diced

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a pan and brown the chicken well on both sides. Once browned, take the pan off heat and set aside. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of pan drippings in a large pasta pot. Add the onions, garlic, red and green pepper. Cook until onions are tender but not yet brown, then add the rice. Stir and cook for another minute, until the grains are coated with fat, then add the chicken broth and saffron. Bring the mixture to a boil, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pot in case rice begins to stick. 

Place the chicken in the pot and cover. Allow the mixture to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the unthawed frozen peas. 

Cover again and cook until the rice is tender, about 10-12 more minutes.