Arroz Con Pollo
Yield 2 portions, (but if you add another egg you can serve 4)
Ingredients
For the Chicken
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 lbs./4 chicken thighs bone-in
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
For the Sofrito
7 oz chopped yellow onions
4 oz of sausage, any type sliced ¼” rounds
7 oz diced green peppers
2 ½ oz minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
7 oz canned chopped tomatoes drained
For the Rice
1 cup of long grain rice, washed
2 cups hot chicken stock, with a ¼ teaspoon saffron mixed
1 cup frozen peas
12 Manzanilla olives
1 tablespoon of capers
For the Garnish
1 hard-boiled egg, cut in half
10 blanched asparagus, peeled and chopped, leaving 4” of the tips intact
1 scallion, green and white part, chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A pinch of Kosher salt
3 lemon wedges
Preheat the oven 400F
Let’s start with the chicken
Season the chicken on both sides while heating an oven proof braising pot at medium high heat, drizzle the oil into the pot and wait for it to get hot. Place the chicken skin side down and let cook without moving for ten minutes, once the skin crisps up, flip the chicken and sear the other side until golden brown; remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
Cook the sofrito
In the same pot (without removing any of the fat that rendered) add the onions, sausage and cook for four minutes, add the garlic and the rest of the ingredients; cook for five minutes at medium heat
It is rice time
In a strainer, wash the rice for several seconds, drain well and add to the sofrito, stir and cook for a couple of minutes so the rice gets coated with the oils and spices. Nestle the chicken in the rice (skin side up), add the hot stock and bring to simmer, taste for seasoning.
Cover the pot with a lid and put in the oven for fifteen minutes. Remove from the oven and add the peas, capers and olives and stir lightly for even distribution, cover again and place in the oven for another five minutes.
Make it Look Pretty
In a mixing bowl or a plate add the asparagus, the scallions, oil, salt and juice of one lemon wedge, mix
well and set aside.
It’s Time to Eat
Remove the pot from the oven and garnish with the HB egg, asparagus and lemon wedges and serve.
BUEN PROVECHO!!