Another hit from the Jacques Pepin Cooking with Claudine cookbook. I'll mention a couple of things, this took about an hour total to cook but a lot of the actual cooking was hands off cooking, which is nice with a toddler running around. I would make this again, it has a really impressive presentation. Make sure you cook it in a pan with an equal sized lid. I didn't do this and kept having to add water to get my rice and chicken to cook properly, since steam was escaping. This dish was actually featured as part of a four course menu along with the soup I posted earlier.
Chicken with Saffron Rice - 4 servings
4 large chicken legs (if you read farther into the recipe he means 4 leg/thigh pieces)
1 T. virgin olive oil
3 med. onions (about 1 lb), peeled and sliced thin ... I thought this was a little excessive and only used 1
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped (2 T)
1 1/2 c. arborio rice (risotto rice)
3 bay leaves
1 c. peeled and diced tomato (I used canned tomatoes with the juice)
1 1/2 c. mixture of green olives, capers, and red pepper (sometimes this is combo is sold as alcaparrado)
1 1/2 T. chopped jalapeno pepper
1 t. salt
1 t. saffron pistils
2 1/2 c. water
tabasco sauce, to taste
Remove the skin from the chicken. Cut the legs in half at the joint so that you have 4 drumsticks and 4 thighs. Heat the oil until hot in a large skillet ( I found a cast iron pan to work really well). Add chicken pieces in one layer and saute over med-hi heat, turning occassionally, for 10 minutes, until they are browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Add onion and garlic to the drippings in the skillet and cook them for 2 minutes. Add the rice, and mix well. Stir in bay leaves, tomato, alcaparrado, jalapeno, salt and saffron. Add the water and mix well.
Return the browned chicken to the skillet, pushing them down into the liquid and rice until they are imbedded in the mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook gently for 30 minutes without stirring. Remove bay leaves before serving.
To serve, place 2 pieces chicken and some rice on each of four dinner plates. If desired, add Tabasco to taste.
5 comments:
This looks great! I love that it is one pot and pretty simple. Do you think the chicken would get too dry if I used breasts? We just prefer the white meat.
I think breasts would work. I would maybe pound them slightly thinner or cut them into smaller pieces if they are thick breasts so they end up done at the same time as the rice. Let me know if you try it and if it works ... the rice is really tasty ... you'll love it!
What are saffron pistils? Are they those little stringy things?
Yes, exactly ... those expensive red-orange stringy threads. I've never heard them called saffron pistils. I think they are usually labeled saffron threads. I must admit that I cheat and use a less expensive saffron powder that I get in Italy. You may be able to find saffron powder in the US ... I can't remember. Although, it's not quite as wonderful as the real saffron ... I think it still gives a good result.
I love this recipe. It is always a hit. The directions are very easy to follow and successful too!
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