Chicken & Rice
This is an easy, one pot meal that is packed with flavor and quarantine certified delicious eats! The layering of flavors elevates the chicken & rice to comfort food status that will have you coming back for seconds. This has been one of my go to recipes and has been evolving for many years. Feel free to customize adding mushrooms, olives, peas, capers, or bacon. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
3 ½ - 4 ½ lbs whole chicken cut into 9 pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 jalapeños, deseeded & diced
2 ribs celery, diced
Handful celery leaves, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups Japanese rice, rinsed
1 TBSP vegetable oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 TBSP tomato paste
1 cup white wine
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp celery salt
Dash cayenne pepper
1 ½ tsp dried thyme
3 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 bunch green onions diced
Breaking down a whole chicken into 9 piece: 2 breasts, 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs, and 1 back. Begin by cutting off the wing tips. Make a cut in between the leg and the body exposing the thigh cavity. Lift up the thigh and hyper extend the joint until the thigh joint ball pops out of the socket. Continue to cut around the thigh and through the leg, separating the entire leg from the body. Flip the leg over and locates the line of fat that separates the leg and thigh. Cut through this line, in between the leg and thigh joint to separate. Remove the other leg and separate from the thigh.
Next, make an incision in the middle of the breast plate through the length of the body. Run your finger down the incision on one side of the sternum and then follow the path with the blade on one side of the breast bone. Continue to make long cuts through the length, being sure you keep the knife against the breast bone as a guide. This will ensure that you release as much meat while reducing overall waste. Once the breast is fully removed, release the wing by holding it and cutting at the base where it meats the breast.
Finally, cut down the lower half of the body to remove the back section. Reserve the 9 chicken pieces to a plate until needed.
Dice up the onion, green bell pepper, jalapeño, garlic, celery and leaves. Reserve until needed.
Finally, rinse 3 cups of white rice until the water runs clear. Set aside to dry.
Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat for 1 minute and then add in the vegetable oil. Season the chicken generously with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and brown the pieces skin side down until golden brown. Be sure to work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Reserve the par cooked chicken to a plate.
Add in the diced holy trinity along with a pinch of Kosher salt and sweat the vegetables until translucent, about 7 minutes. The salt will help release water from the vegetables that you can use this to deglaze and scrape some of the darker spots.
Add in the garlic and tomato paste and continue to cook for 1 minute stirring often. Deglaze the pot with the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to release the fond. Reduce the wine by half and add in the rice. Stir to coat all of the grains and continue to toast the rice for 1 - 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in the celery seed, celery salt, cayenne pepper, and dried thyme. Mix to combine and then add in the vegetable stock. Fully scrap the bottom of the pot and evenly distribute the rice. Add in the chicken pieces skin side up in a single layer and bring to the boil. Once to the boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 17 minutes.
After 17 minutes, turn the heat off and let sit for another 7 minutes. Do not lift the lid. After the time is up, remove the chicken pieces and fold in diced green onions.
