Arroz con Pollo

Most of the dishes I cook I like to classify as comfort food, food that sticks to your ribs and can be easily eaten in a bowl while sitting on the couch covered with a blanket while watching Top Chef.  I think what makes food "comfort food" is the chance to add your own personal flair to a dish and when the time is taken to slowly prepare and pay close attention to what's being made, that's what really produces food that you would want to share with others.  

When I was a Sophomore undergrad, I was perfectly fine with my monthly trips to Costco, loading up my trunk with industrial sized palettes of cup o' noodles and pizza rolls.  After a while, I realized the amount of processed food I was shoving into my face couldn't be at all good...despite how delicious it was.  I started poking around, reading a few cookbooks and came across a recipe for Arroz con Pollo.  Chicken and Rice, pretty easy right?.  I gave it a shot, added some Louisiana hot links and immediately called my friends over to eat what I thought was the best thing since Bagel Bites.  The next time I made it was for a significant other on Valentine's Day, which we ate by candlelight in my formal dining room with Dashboard Confessional playing in the background (classy, I know, I'm quite the romantic).  That relationship eventually went to hell, and I haven't made Arroz con Pollo since...just a coincidence, there were no ill-feelings after it ended.

Anywho, I knew the general principle behind the dish and saw an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay featuring the ACP where Flay added turmeric, and the other dude cooked his chicken with beer.  Taking these two ideas, I kind of toyed around in the kitchen and ended up with all kinds of deliciousness as a result.

What Flay said was that the "sofrito" was the part of the dish that stood as the backbone of flavor for the dish.  Really, I just like saying "sofrito."  so-FREE-toe.

Arroz con Pollo 

(Serves 6?...just make it and eat the leftovers the next day...its just as delicious.):

4 1/2 c. Long Grain Jasmine Rice

Sofrito:

1 Red & 1 Green Bell Pepper

1/2 large yellow onion

8 cloves garlic (minced)

salt/pepper

5-6 Chicken thighs (skin on, bone in please, they taste better)

Bottle of your favorite beer (I used Corona...I figure I would stick with the Latin theme, I'm sure Tecate or Dos Equis would be just as fine.)

3 Cartons of Chicken Stock

Garlic Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Olive Oil

Turmeric

Cilantro

Ideally, the ACP is a one pot dish (which makes clean-up a happier time).  In a 10" Skillet with a lid, drizzle in a little olive oil and sear the chicken over a medium-high stove.  After you ge ta good sear on both sides, pour in about 3/4ths of a bottle of the Corona and let it steam the chicken until the beer reduces and eventually evaporates.  After the chicken has gotten the GBD (golden, brown, and delicious) take them out and set them aside on a plate.  In the same pan, add a couple more turns of olive oil and toss in your ingredients for the "sofrito."  When I did this, I tried roasting the bell peppers on my spider burners, to get a roasted taste to it...I gave up after attempting to roast the green one.  Either way, just discard the seeds and the ribs and cut them into tiny little pieces.  I'm not a fan of big stringy vegetables in my food, so I keep them small so I'll actually eat them. 

Bah, ok, so toss around the sofrito to get everything covered, toasted, and merry.  When your onions become translucent, toss in your rice.  I added the rice in installments, slowly mixing in the ingredients until they're fully incorporated.  Pour in one carton of chicken stock and use your spatula to get all the burnt chicken bits off the bottom of the pan.  The Food Network taught me this is known as "de-glazing" getting all the deliciousness from the bottom and into your food.  Mmmm...bits.  Sprinkle in about half a teaspoon of turmeric.  Not gonna lie, I don't really know what the turmeric is for...but it gives the rice a yummy goldish color.  Cayenne pepper for taste, I like things with a little kick, so thats more of a personal choice.

This is where it gets kind of tricky.  I stayed by the stove and stirred continuously over a medium heat.  I kept adding chicken stock until the rice was finished.  I didn't want to leave the rice by itself on the stove for fear of burning the bottom while the top stayed raw.  This is where the love and dedication come into play when cooking.  After about 25? 30 minutes? your rice should be done and you can pop your chicken back in.  I decided to cut the meat off the bone and shred it a little, just so it would incorporate throughout the rice and that way you won't run out of chicken before you run out of rice.  

Chop up some cilantro, sprinkle on top to give it some color and fanciness, and serve! It should be all kinds of delicious.  I pretty much made this up on my own as I was cooking, keeping the general process the same, and threw in things that I had in my cabinet that I thought would be wonderful.  So yeah, play with it, it'll be fun.  If not, feed it to the dog...or friends you don't particularly like.  Good luck!!