Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice)

Background

Arroz con Pollo is a typical spanish dish, you could say it's a staple dish for a spanish family, and is commonly found in spanish restaurants. This dish should really be seen as the foundation on which to build up on, adding a wide range of ingredients to create ever exotic dishes. Spain's best export, Paella, shares this same foundation adding various seafood like squid, mussels and prawns, but the composition can change depending on the region.

It goes without saying that the perfect accompany with this dish, and dishes derived from it, is a good ice-cold Jerez sherry, a dry Fino or an amontillado. If sherry is too much for your palette, it is around 20% alcohol by volume, then a regular dry white wine will suffice.

Ingredients

1 Spanish Onion (finely chopped)

2 Cloves of Garlic

4 Large Chicken Breasts (halved) or Chicken legs

1 Large Red Peppers

1 Tablespoon of Paprika (smoked or normal)

1 Teaspoon Turmeric

1 Can of chopped tomatoes

350g Risotto rice (paella rice, arborio rice)

1/4 Teaspoon Saffron threads, crushed

1 1/2 Chicken Stock

150g Frozen Peas

Method

Using a large flat frying pan, cook the chicken in a little oil for around 10 minutes, until golden brown all over. Remove and set aside. Add the onion, garlic and pepper to the pan and gently cook for around 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft but not burnt. Stir in the paprika and slowly add the tomatoes over a medium heat.

Add the rice to the pan and on top of the rice add the turmeric and slowly pour in the stock. Quickly bring the mixture to the boil and add the saffron. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer until the rice is just tender and the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add the peas. Once cooked, remove for the heat and cover and leave for about 5-10 minutes for the rice to re-absorb the liquid.

Variations

This dish works particularly well with spain's finest meats, like Chorzio sausage and Serrano ham. For a seafood variation, prawns and other things that swim in the sea can be added. Because these ingredients are quite delicate and so could become ruined during the cooking of the rice, its best to add them after the rice has been added and when the dish is simmering.

Experiment! try different ingredients like broad beans and different seasoning.

If you are drinking a good Jerez sherry to accompany this dish, then one common variation that works well with seafood, is to add a splash of sherry to the stock during cooking. The salty taste in the sherry adds that 'seafood' taste to the dish.