Arroz Con Pollo Picante

Arroz Con Pollo (Chicken with Rice) is a traditional Spanish dish which is very popular in Latin America where most countries were colonized by Spain. I still wonder why this very simple and comforting dish never took off in the Philippines. The Spanish version is very simple and consists of basically just chicken and rice cooked in chicken stock and usually flavored with saffron. Most Latin American versions consist of other ingredients such as chorizo, cheese and chili and other spices and in some caribbean versions, fried plantains.

The following recipe was adapted from the cookbook The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison.

4 chicken legs and thighs or 1 whole chicken cut into pieces

1 tsp cumin (toasted and ground)

1 tbsp ground ancho chili or chili powder

1/2 tbsp spanish paprika

cayenne pepper

dried oregano

2 pieces good chorizo (i get mine from Alba's)

3 cups white rice (calrose or japanese) washed and drained

4 to 5 cups of chicken stock (some people prefer the rice to be very soft and sticky)

1 large red onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 small tomatoes, chopped

sliced black olives

frozen peas

a few threads of saffron

chopped flat leaf parsley

olive oil

salt

Marinate the chicken pieces in the cumin, chili, paprika, cayenne pepper, oregano and olive oil for at least an hour. Add some saffron threads to 1/4 cup hot stock.

Right before you Sauteé the chicken pieces, add some salt and then sauteé in a large pan or wok till lightly brown and set aside.

In a dutch oven or any oven proof pot, sauteé the onions and garlic until soft and translucent.

Add the uncooked rice and stir until the rice absorbs the oil.

Arrange the chicken pieces on top and then add the chopped tomatoes.

Add the stock (it is better to add a little bit more salt as the rice will absorb much of the saltiness of the stock) and saffron.Bake in the oven at F350 degrees for one hour. While the pot is baking, slice the chorizo and fry til cooked. After one hour, remove from the oven and add the chorizo, peas and olives into the rice. Make sure the chorizo is equally distributed because its flavor will give a wonderful kick to the rice. Cover and leave out of the oven for 30 minutes.

Arrange the chicken places on a serving plate or you could also individually plate. Garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley.