Puerto rican chicken and rice
A pretty lazy dish – because you just leaveeverything to cook – and a good one to make midweek or on a Friday night. It’sreally important to rinse the rice before cooking it. Achiote paste is a blendof ground annatto seeds, cumin, allspice and oregano and can be found online(from www.souschef.co.uk and also www.coolchile.co.uk). It’s pretty essential as it has a unique taste and the annatto imparts anincredible yellow-orange colour. You do need fresh tomato sauce, not ketchup.
Ingrediënten
FOR THE MARINADE
- coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1½ tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- juice of 2 limes
FOR THE REST
- 1 chicken jointed into 8, or bone-in thighs and drumsticks
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 75 g 2¾oz ham, or raw pork belly, or bacon, in chunks
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 green pepper sliced
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 6 allspice berries
- 1 tbsp achiote paste
- 2 red chillies sliced into rings
- 6 tbsp home-made or bought tomato sauce
- 568 ml 1 pint chicken stock
- 170 g 6oz basmati rice, washed well
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 100 g 3½oz green olives stuffed with pimento
- 1 tbsp capers rinsed
- lime wedges to serve
Instructies
- Make the marinade in a dish in which the chicken will fit by just mixing everything together.
- Add the chicken and turn it over so it gets coated properly.
- Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for a couple of hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
- Heat the oil in a broad shallow pan, season the chicken and brown the pieces all over, in batches if necessary so as not to overcrowd the pan.
- (You want to colour it well, not cook it through.
- ) Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside.
- Add the ham (or pork or bacon) to the pan and brown it all over, lift out with a slotted spoon and add to the chicken.
- Put the onion and peppers into the same pan and sauté over a medium heat until the peppers are softening.
- Stir in the garlic, allspice, achiote paste and chillies and cook for another two minutes, stirring.
- Add the tomato sauce and stir this in, too.
- The achiote paste should dissolve.
- Heat up the chicken stock.
- If you are cooking in a really big shallow pan, or paella pan, you can continue in this.
- Many people don’t have a pan big enough to accommodate all the chicken in a single layer and still have room for the rice, so transfer the chicken (including any juices), ham and vegetables a to a big, wide ovenproof dish (the one I use for this is 30cm/12in in diameter).
- Pour the rice all round the chicken, pour over the stock, add the thyme and bay leaves and season everything really well.
- Put in the preheated oven and cook for 40 minutes, until all the stock has been absorbed and the top is golden.
- You don’t need to stir the rice or cover it or do anything with the dish as it cooks (in fact it’s important not to stir it).
- Scatter on the olives and capers about 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
- Serve with lime wedges.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
