Arroz con Pollo

Spanish lesson time!  Ever heard of arroz con pollo?  It's rice with chicken.

Arroz = rice   Pollo = chicken

Great lesson, right?!  You bet your Spanglish speaking booty it is!  And the only thing better than knowing what it is would be knowing how to make it.  Lucky for you, I'm here to tell ya!

In this recipe, the Spanish have transformed two ordinary and rather boring ingredients into something truly special and flavorful.   Jess and I visited Puerto Rico on our honeymoon a couple months ago and ate at the restaurant of renowned chef Jose Enrique in San Juan.  The following is an adapted version of his fantastic recipe for arroz con pollo.

Ready?  Set?  Cook!

Get your oven revved up to 400 degrees.

For this particular recipe, I'm fortunate enough to own a fantastic caldera gifted to me by my uncle Dan.  While we have a ton of great cooks in my family, he's the only bona fide chef.  Check out this lovely cooking pot:

Now, I don't expect everyone to just rummage around in their kitchen and pull out a caldera.  A large, heavier, ovenproof skillet would work well for this dish.  In that skillet, heat up 2 tbsp. of olive oil until it's shimmering.

While you're waiting for that to heat up, salt and pepper 8-10 chicken thighs.  I love to use the thighs because they're so much more flavorful than chicken breasts.  Place them in the skillet and cook until browned on each side, about 12 minutes or so.  Transfer them to a plate.

Mince a medium sized onion, two serrano chiles (de-seeded), and two cloves of garlic and add them to the skillet, seasoning them with salt and pepper.

Cook on medium-high for around 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until they soften.  To this mix, add 3 diced plum tomatoes, 1 tsp. ground cumin, and (if you have them) a pinch of saffron threads.  If you don't have saffron, don't worry...it's CRAZY expensive and, while it does add great flavor, it won't break your dish if you omit it.

Cook for about 5 more minutes until the tomatoes start to break down.  Add a cup of dry white wine and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Your kitchen is starting to smell wonderful, isn't it?  We're just getting started!  Add 3 cups of chicken stock and a cup of beer (a lager or pilsner type would be best here) and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, stir in two cups of Bomba rice (hard to find, but more traditional) or Arborio rice (much easier to find) and return the mixture to a boil.  Make sure you don't substitute another type of rice...you need the short, fat grains to absorb all your liquid and flavor in this dish.  Sorry, Uncle Ben, you're not welcome here!

Tuck your chicken into the rice.  We're going to bake it uncovered in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Once the 30 minutes is up, carefully remove your hot pot from the oven and dig in!  Bye bye, boring chicken and rice.  You've been replaced by arroz con pollo!

A little parsley adds a finishing touch.  Salud!

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam


Arroz Con Pollo
Serves: 4-6

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
8-10 chicken thighs
1 medium onion, minced
2 serrano chiles, de-seeded and minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 plum tomatoes
1 tsp. cumin
pinch of saffron threads (optional)
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup lager or pilsner style beer
2 cups Bomba or Arborio rice
chopped parsley, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large, deep, ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering.  Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and cook until browned on both sides, about 12 minutes.  Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Add the onion, chiles, and garlic to the skillet and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for about 8 minutes on medium-high heat until softened.  Add the tomatoes, cumin, and saffron and cook for about 5 more minutes until the tomatoes start to break down.  Add the wine and simmer for another 5 minutes.  Add the stock and beer and bring to a boil.  Stir in the rice and return to a boil.  Tuck the chicken into the rice and bake uncovered in the oven for 30 minutes until the liquid is absorbed, the rice is tender, and the chicken is cooked through.

Serve hot garnished with fresh parsley.

Strawberry Scones

It's Spring and strawberry season is in full swing!  Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits and now that they don't cost as much as a New York Strip (seriously?!  $6 a pound?!!), it's time to make something great with them! 

Before we begin, here is a short message from my adorable new kitten Juniper who is walking on the keyboard:
ttttttttttttttttt000000000000000000

Also, here is a quick photo of her:

Sorry, I get excited.

Now, back to the food!

Six years ago, right around this time of the year, I spent a week in Ireland with my grandfather visiting relatives I had not met before.  One of these relatives, my great aunt Mona, made us the most delicious scones while we were there.  While I didn't make her actual recipe today, I'd like to think that she would enjoy this version of strawberry scones as much as I did.  I ate 4 of them just now.  In fact, I'm about to have a fifth.  I'm an adult!  I make my own rules! 

This recipe made 18 scones, so there's still plenty for my fam when they come home....we hope....

Oven to 425.  Go ahead and cover a couple of baking sheets in parchment paper.  Now let's gather our supplies, shall we?

 

We'll need 3 cups of flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tbsp. of baking powder to start.  Dump all of these in a large bowl and mix.

 

In a liquid measuring cup, stir together 1 1/3 cup of cream and 1 tsp. of vanilla.

Now, we're going to drizzle the vanilla cream into the dry ingredients while stirring them all together.  This will form our dough.

 Keep stirring until it looks like this:

 

 

Set your dough aside for now and gather some strawberries.  I used about 12 or so, washed, de-stemmed, and cut into small chunks (about 1 cup).  Once chopped, add them to your dough and stir them in gently.

Onto a clean, lightly floured work surface, dump out your dough and form it into a roughly circular shape about an inch thick.

Knead the dough lightly, folding it over onto itself a couple of times to make sure the strawberries are well incorporated.  The dough may be a bit sticky at this point.  This is also the part where I realized I don't have cookie cutters.  Woops!  I improvised and used a small glass to press down and make rounds.  If you have a cookie cutter, by all means use it here!  I think mine still looked pretty good overall, despite being ill-equipped:

These lil suckers will be sprinkled lightly with sugar and popped into the oven for 15 minutes.  And thennnnnn.....

Viola!  Delicious strawberry scones!

Since they're not too sweet, I recommend eating them warm with butter and your favorite cup of tea.  Bliss...

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam


Strawberry Scones

3 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 1/3 c cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 425 and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.  In a mixing cup, mix together cream and vanilla.  Slowly pour vanilla cream into dry mixture and stir to incorporate and form a dough.  Wash, de-stem, and roughly chop 1 cup of strawberries (about 12 berries).  Add to dough and stir lightly.  Turn dough out onto a clean, lightly floured surface and knead a few times.  Form the dough into a 1 inch thick circular shape.  Use a cookie cutter to cut the dough into rounds and place on the cookie sheet.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar and bake for 15 minutes.  Serve warm. 

Makes about 18 scones.

Irish Mist Short Ribs

For years, Jess has been waxing poetic about the virtues of a certain short ribs recipe that her former mother-in-law used to make for the family.  She's looked for a similar dish online, but nothing matched up with what she described.  One day, while we were in an Atlanta liquor store, Jess stopped me, pointed to a pretty bottle on the shelf, and said "You know those short ribs I'm always talking about?  They were made using this."  The "this" in question was Irish Mist, something I had never tried.  I figured it was some sort of a whiskey, like Jameson or Tullamore Dew, but it was far better!  Irish Mist is, per the bottle description, a liqueur containing Irish whiskey, honey, and natural aromatic spices.  Per me, it tastes REALLY GOOD (and makes an incredible hot toddy, too)!  We bought the bottle and Jess vowed she would try and get the short ribs recipe for me.

It took a few months, but one fine day, we obtained the recipe and I got to work! 

It just so happened that I had purchased 4 pounds of organic, grass-fed short ribs earlier in the week from a specialty shop.  How fortuitous!  You can also find these tasty meat morsels at your local grocery store.

First, I browned the ribs on all sides in order to get maximum beefy flavor.  YUM.

Once browned, I added all the ribs to my dutch oven and gathered the rest of my ingredients:

   

In a large bowl, add a sliced medium onion, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp. rosemary, 1 tsp. thyme, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 1 16oz can of tomato sauce, 1 cup of our new pal Irish Mist, 1/2 cup beef broth, and 1 cup of water.  Mix all ingredients well to combine and then pour the whole thing over your ribs.  Talk about a 1 pot meal bonanza!

Looking good already!  But after about 2 1/2 hours covered and simmering on the stove, this dish looked even better:

The ribs themselves were excellent and really absorbed all the different flavors of this dish.  The real star, however, was the incredible sauce...serve this over mashed potatoes and eat it with a spoon!!

We've still got a few more cool days of winter ahead of us.  Make this belly filling, belly warming dish and you won't regret it!

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam


Irish Mist Short Ribs

4 lbs. short ribs
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
16oz can of tomato sauce
1 cup of our new pal Irish Mist
1/2 cup beef broth
1 cup of water

In one or two large skillets (or dutch ovens), brown short ribs on all sides.  Once browned, add them all to one pot.  Mix all other ingredients together in a bowl and pour over ribs.  Cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.  Serves over mashed potatoes.

Bourbon Chicken

I don't remember the last time I went to a mall.  This may have something to do with the fact that the nearest mall is about an hour away from my lil tiny town (where the local shopping scene consists of a lone Dollar General...no, really).  Since I haven't visited a mall in a while, by default I also haven't been to a mall food court. 

You might think I'm crazy, but there was always one food court item that would catch my attention, usually because someone was hocking it outside their counter on tiny toothpicks yelling "sample!!!"  I would partake about 99% of the time because these little nuggets were just so darn good.  And then I'd order myself a plate of them with fried rice.  Mmmmm...  Perhaps you already know of what I speak?  Oh yes, my friends, I'm talking about bourbon chicken.

Bourbon chicken at the mall contains no bourbon.  You probably knew that already.  It's kind of like how Juicy Fruit gum doesn't taste like fruit.  Names can be misleading!  I've read that bourbon chicken was actually named for Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but I've been there multiple times and never laid eyes on this dish.  It's a mystery, people. 

I can tell you that putting this dish together is not mysterious at all.  It's extremely straightforward and easy.  Now our food court cravings will cease as we can enjoy this dish in our own homes!  Eureka!

Grab a package of your steadfast pal: boneless skinless chicken breast.  They're always there for you when you need them, aren't they?  Such a friendly, giving sort of meat.  Using either a knife or kitchen shears (fancy word for scissors), cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Into a deep skillet under medium high heat, add a couple teaspoons of olive oil.  Chuck your chicken in there to brown each piece. 

While the chicken cooks, whisk the following together in a bowl: a couple crushed garlic cloves, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 cup of apple juice (I used hard cider), 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp. ketchup, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, and 1 tbsp. cornstarch. 

All mixed together

=



If you really wanted to, I'm sure you could add a bit of bourbon as well.  Or Siracha if you like things spicy.  Easy so far, yes?

Once your chicken is browned up a bit, add the contents of the bowl directly into the pan.  Let it come to a boil and then drop the heat to a simmer.  We'll let that hang out for 20 minutes. 

The sauce will thicken up nicely and coat every bit of the chicken.  Now you've got dinner, and in only about a half hour!  Wowzers.  I'm feeling like Rachel Ray or something.  Sam's 30 minute meals...has a nice ring to it!  I find this tasty treat is best served over rice and with broccoli as both sides help soak up some of this yummy sauce.  Check it out:

Mall food - revamped!  And we didn't even have to leave home or deal with maddening crowds or fight our way up to the sample platter.  You're welcome. 

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam

 Bourbon Chicken

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp. cornstarch

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.  In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients until well blended.  Add contents of the bowl to the skillet and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.  Serve over rice.