Arroz con Pollo

Inspiration:
A recent trip to Puerto Rico and a recipe from Martha Stewart's Living


Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry white wine
• Pinch of saffron
• 6 chicken thighs (6 ounces each)
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic (2 to 3 cloves)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 4 1/2 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock, plus more if needed
• 3 cups short-grain rice, preferably Valencia (can substitute Arborio)
• 1 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives

Instructions:

1. Combine wine and saffron; let stand until ready to use. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large braiser or heavy-bottomed, straight-sided saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, skin side down, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip, and cook until golden brown, 2 minutes; transfer to a plate.
2. Reduce heat to medium, and cook onion and garlic, stirring often, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add tomato, and cook, stirring often, for 15 minutes. Stir in wine-saffron mixture, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the bay leaves. Cook until wine is almost completely evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes. Add chicken, stock, rice, and olives; bring to a simmer.
3. Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, stirring halfway through, until rice is tender, about 45 minutes. (If rice is not done, add more stock, cup at a time.) Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes:

• I omitted the tomato because- well, I forgot to buy one!
• Make sure you use a large enough pan. Chicken broth overflowed onto my stovetop more than once- whoops!
• I used a pinch of saffron, but next time I'd use a really really large pinch.
• There was a lot more rice than chicken, perhaps because we used skinny organic free-range chicken thighs. Anyway, I took the leftover rice to work as part of my lunches, and it tasted great cold! So, enjoy the leftover rice if you have some.
  

Liz's Rating: 9/10
Tim's Rating: 9/10

Spaghetti with Swiss Chard and Garlic Chips

Inspiration:
Smitten Kitchen
and
Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 head garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dried currants
• 2 pounds green Swiss chard, stems and center ribs finely chopped and leaves coarsely chopped separately
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, cut into slivers
• 6 ounces feta, crumbled (1 1/2 cups)

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer garlic with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

2. Cook onion in oil remaining in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add currants and cook, stirring, until plumped, about 1 minute.

3. Stir chard stems into onion mixture with water and 3/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook, covered, over medium-high heat until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chard leaves and cook, covered, until stems and leaves are tender, about 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 5 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water and drain spaghetti.

5. Toss spaghetti with chard, olives, and 1/2 cup cooking water, adding more cooking water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with feta and garlic chips.

Notes:
This made a lot. I should have cut it in half. It's really good!

Liz's Rating: 9/10
Tim's Rating: n/a

Braised Chicken with Lemon and Olives

Inspiration:
Good Things Catered, which adapted a recipe from Williams-Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 8 mixed bone-in chicken pieces
  
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  
• 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  
• 1 c. Chardonnay
  
• 30 green olives, pitted
  
• 1 lemon, sliced 1/8 inch thick
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 2 c. chicken stock
  
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  
• 2 Tbsp sifted flour

Instructions:

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
   
2. In a large braiser over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil until almost smoking. Working in batches, brown the chicken on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
   
3. Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, for 15 seconds; do not allow it to burn.
   
4. Add the Chardonnay and cook down, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom, about 5 minutes.
   
5. Add the olives, lemon slices and bay leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes.
   
6. Return the chicken to the pan, add the stock and bring to a boil.
   
7. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the chicken is very tender, about 1 1⁄2 hours.
   
8. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Remove chicken, lemon, and olives from the pan and place on serving platter.
   
9. With braiser over medium high heat, add flour and whisk to combine. Cook to thicken, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes.
   
10. Pour thickened braising sauce over chicken and garnish with the parsley. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

My Notes:
WOW! When I saw this recipe on Katie's blog, I knew I had to make it. I couldn't stop thinking about it, and I was so happy when it tasted just as I had imagined. I loved it. I used 5 chicken drumsticks, which are budget-friendly and cook faster. I only braised my chicken for about 45 minutes. Make sure you brown the chicken well in the second step.


Liz's Rating: 10/10
Tim's Rating: 8/10 (Tim didn't like green olives until about 2 weeks ago. I wasn't even going to have him try this, but he jumped right in and enjoyed it.)