Arroz con Pollo...Chicken & Rice

Arroz con Pollo, Chicken and Rice, is a classic dish served in Spain and Latin America. For special occasions my own Panamanian mother would make Arroz con Pollo, and it was always a delicious treat. When I was in Panamá in February, my mother had Dexi make the Arroz con Pollo. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal that DEXI make the Arroz con Pollo, and it really didn't matter. I had a nice big plate of Arroz con Pollo in front of me and I was happy. It was so delicious all I kept wondering was how did she do it. What was the magic ingredient?

Fast forward to September, I'm back in Panamá and all I know is, that before I leave I want to learn how to make Dexi's Arroz con Pollo. I made an appointment with her, I stood in the kitchen with her, and wrote down and photographed every step. Now, we were not in a professional kitchen with a camera crew. It was just Dexi, me, and kitchen lighting. Although the pictures will surely be of help, they're not necessarily Instagram-worthy.

I'm so excited to share this with you, it doesn't take a high skill level or fancy ingredients, or extraordinary knife skills, or....you get the point. If you enjoy good, fresh food, you will love this recipe. I do suggest you buy all your ingredients the day before you choose to cook. The recipe does take about 1 hour in total to prepare and cook. Ok....let's go!!!!

Dexi's Arroz con Pollo

Ingredients

3 large in-bone chicken breasts or 4 medium (without the skin)

1 celery stalk with leaves (cut the leaves off and put aside)

1 medium carrot

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1/2 cup Spanish olives pitted with pimentos (Goya is the best & cheapest)

1/4 cup small capers

1 14.5 oz. can of mixed vegetables

1 8 oz. can of green beans

4 ozs. of plain tomato sauce (not paste)

2 packets of powdered chicken flavored bouillon (try Goya)

2 1/2 cups white rice (in the notes I'll show the adjustments for brown rice)

Worcestershire sauce

Soy sauce

Oregano

Pepper

Salt

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Directions

Step 1

Pat dry your chicken breasts and place in a bowl. Season with Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Enough so each piece is marinated. Sprinkle the garlic powder and onion powder over each piece and rub in. Add a pinch of salt, pepper, and oregano to each piece of chicken and rub in.

Step 2

Place your chicken pieces in a large stock pot, breast up, and sprinkle one packet of powdered bouillon over the chicken then throw the celery leaves on top. Put on medium heat for 5 minutes.

Step 3

Add enough water to cover the chicken, (approximately 10 cups), and put on a high flame.

Step 4

While the chicken is cooking, finely dice the green pepper, red pepper, and celery stalk, and coarsely grate the carrot (peel the carrot before grating). Set aside.

Step 5

The chicken should be boiling at this point. Once the water is boiling, let the chicken cook for 45 minutes. Now, you can take a short break, but don't go too far. After 45 minutes, remove the chicken and let cool on a plate.

Step 6

Time to start the rice. Take your 2 1/2 cups of rice and rinse the rice with water at least twice through a strainer. Rinsing the rice removes the starch so your rice isn't sticky. Put aside.

Step 7

Chicken breasts should be cool enough to begin shredding. Take a plate and start shredding the chicken into medium sized pieces. Once you've shredded all the chicken, put aside.

Step 8

Now it's time to make the rice. In a large stock pot, pour olive oil so it just covers the bottom of the pot. Pour rice into the pot and give a big stir. Let rest about 30 seconds. Give another big stir making sure oil covers all of the rice. Let rest another 30 seconds. You're going to stir and rest the rice two more times, for a total of 4 times.

Step 9

Take the liquid from the chicken and pour into the rice until the rice is just covered. Add the tomato sauce and stir. Put the rice on a high flame and sprinkle one packet of powdered chicken bouillon over the rice. Wait about 3 minutes and put the cover on the rice.

Step 10

While you're waiting to cover the rice, open the cans of mixed vegetables and green beans and drain them. Now give the rice a light stir and cover. Let cook on high for about 4 minutes without lifting the cover.

Step 11

Check the rice after 4 minutes, the water should be evaporating, if not cover and cook for another minute. Once you see the water has started to evaporate, add the chicken, mixed vegetables, green beans, celery, peppers, olives, and capers to the rice. Give the rice a couple of big stirs. Cover, lower to a medium flame, and let cook for 3 minutes. Stir the pot a couple of times and replace the cover. Let cook for 5 minutes.

Step 12

Add the carrots and give the pot a couple of big stirs. Cover, put the flame on low and let finish cooking for 15 minutes. Shut off the flame and let it rest for 10 minutes then serve.

Serve this with a small salad and you and yours will have a delicious meal!

NOTES

1.) If you substitute brown rice in this recipe, when you're ready to add the liquid, add 1 2/3 cups of broth for each cup of rice, then follow the recipe.

2.) This dish is often served with patacones, fried plantains, or plantano en tentacíon, made with ripe plantains, which will be recipes for another day.