# Arroz con pollo



## snapoutofit4 (Nov 18, 2007)

Hi everyone,
I am a new member (just joined today) and by no means a professional chef. I do however enjoy cooking for family and friends to bring us all closer together! This year for Thanksgiving my boyfriend will not be going home to Puerto Rico so I am making him a classic dish: arroz con pollo. There are a thousand variations, the one I got is to follow. The only problem is I want to make it the day before and then heat it in the oven the next day. How can I keep the rice and chicken from drying out or losing flavor? THanks!

1 (3 pound) chicken cut into 8 pieces, skin removed (combination of thigh and breast meat is very good, pull away the skin)
1/2 cup pure Spanish olive oil 
1 onion, small dice 
1 green pepper, small dice 
1 roasted red pepper, small dice 
4 cloves garlic, minced 
1 cup prepared tomato sauce 
1 teaspoon ground cumin 
1 bay leaf 
1/2 cup dry white wine (in the supermarket where the oils and vinegars are there is "cooking wine", anyone works)
12 ounces beer (no lite beer) 
1/2 cup sherry (optional)
3 cups chicken stock (Swanson has 99% fat free chicken broth in the soup ally, it works the same)
1 1/2 cups "De Aqui" rice, soaked in cold water for 1 hour 
5 saffron threads ( if you do not have, ask PJ for the seasoning envelopes I sent out to him) 
1 cup frozen sweet peasPreheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Season the chicken, in a large casserole or dutch oven, heat the olive oil. Brown the chicken, remove the chicken from the pan, and set aside. 
Add the onions, peppers, and garlic to the casserole. Cook until translucent. Add the tomato sauce, cumin, and bay leaf; cook for another 5 minutes. Add the chicken, wine, beer, and sherry, and cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and adjust the seasoning. Add the drained rice and the saffron. 
Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. 
Remove the rice from the oven and add the peas, fluffing the rice and mixing in the peas at the same time. Serve hot.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Welcome to ChefTalk, SnapOutOfIt. 

Given that recipe, I would prepare it the day before until the point where you add the rice. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from fridge at least 30 minutes before finishing. Bring back to a boil, add the rice, and finish in the oven as the directions say.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Made ahead, it shouldn't dry out nor lose flavor. Dishes of this sort tend to be better the next day anyway. Just keep it covered after you cook it the first day and while you're reheating it. It should be fine. 

Why so much oil? For current tastes in food, that would probably be perceived as greasy. 1/2 cup is a lot of oil and while you're making a fair amount, it seems you shouldn't need that much oil to do what you describe doing. 1/4 cup should cover it and still be more than you'd probably need. 

Start off with 2 tablespoons in the pan for the chicken. If it's a really big pan, maybe some more. Add a bit more if needed for the vegies and I bet you'd have 1 tablespoon left over minimum. Plus the extra 1/4 cup you didn't even use to start with.

phil


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## rrcos (Apr 2, 2007)

Hello and Welcome to the forum.

I don't want to rain on your parade.. but of the thousand variations of this recipe.. This is not from Puerto Rico (I only tell you this because I've been a Puerto Rican for such a very long time).

I will share my recipe if you like.. 

*Arroz con Pollo*
Makes 10 to 15 servings, as part of a larger meal

1/2 cup Achiote Oil (recipe follows)
1 cup Sofrito (recipe follows)
1/4 cup alcaparrado or coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed olives 
1 tablespoons fine sea or kosher salt 
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper 
2 teaspoons ground cumin 
2 pounds of chicken thighs, or tenders 
6 cups long grain rice, rinsed several times 
Chicken Broth, homemade or store-bought and/or water as needed (about 8 cups)

In an open fryer.. add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook chicken skin side down for 5 to 8 minutes. turn thighs over and cook another 5 minutes to brown chicken. Remove chicken and set aside.

Heat the achiote oil in a heavy 5-quart pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the sofrito, alcaparrada or olives, salt, pepper and cumin. Cook until the sofrito stops boiling and starts to sizzle, about 3 or 4 minutes.
Add the chicken and stir until they're coated with oil, then stir in the rice until everything is mixed together and the rice is coated with oil. Then pour in enough broth and/or water to cover the rice by the width of two fingers.

Change heat to high and bring to a boil and boil without stirring until the level of liquid meets the rice. Once the water has evaporated to the level of the rice, give it a good stir and reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. (VERY Important.. During those 20 to 25 minutes, don't 
touch the rice, don't stir, don't even uncover the pot.. just walk away..)
Once done, fluff the rice and serve hot..

*Sofrito
*Daisy Martinez version.

If you can't find ajices dulces or culantro, up the amount of cilantro to 1 ½ bunches.

2 medium Spanish onions cut into large chunks
3 to 4 Italian frying peppers or cubanelle peppers 
16 to 20 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large bunch cilantro, washed
7 to 10 ajices dulces (see note below), optional
4 leaves of culantro (see note below), or another handful cilantro
3 to 4 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and cut into chunks
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks

Chop the onion and cubanelle or Italian peppers in the work bowl of a food processor until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and process until smooth. The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also freezes beautifully. Freeze sofrito in ½ cup batches in sealable plastic bags. They come in extremely handy in a pinch. You can even add sofrito straight from the freezer to the pan.

Pantry Notes: Ajices Dulces, also known as cachucha or ajicitos are tiny sweet peppers with a hint of heat. They range in color from light to medium green and yellow to red and orange. Do not mistake them for Scotch bonnet or Habanero chilies (which they look like)--those two pack a wallop when it comes to heat. If you can find ajicitos in your market, add them to sofrito. If not, up the cilantro and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and serrated edges. When it comes to flavor, culantro is like cilantro times ten. It is a nice, not essential addition to sofrito.

*Achiote Oil
*Daisy Martinez version
Annatto seeds, known as achiote in Spanish, are small irregularly shaped, deep reddish colored seeds about the size of a lentil. Steeping annatto (achiote) seeds in hot olive oil for a few minutes will do more than give the oil a brilliant orange-gold color; it will infuse it with a nutty, delicate aroma.

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons achiote (annatto) seeds

Heat the oil and annatto seeds in a small skillet over medium heat just until the seeds give off a lively, steady sizzle. Don't overheat the mixture or the seeds will turn black and the oil a nasty green. Once they're sizzling away, pull the pan from the heat and let stand until the sizzling stops. Strain as much of the oil as you are going to use right away into the pan.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

RRCos, I hate to rain on your parade, but Cheftalk has a rule against posting copyrighted recipes.

That one is direct from Daisy Martinez book and web site. Good recipe, true but against site policy. And if you're going to present someone else's work, at least give them credit. For example, here's her web blurb about achiote oil which is word for word the same as you posted though you elided a few sentences. Daisy Cooks! with Daisy Martinez Same for sofrito ( Daisy Cooks! with Daisy Martinez )

Further, as with most "authentic" dishes, there is a wide range of them and every family's is distinctly different yet each is authentic.


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## rrcos (Apr 2, 2007)

My apologies.. for forgetting to mention Mrs. Martinez.. But the Arroz con Pollo recipe is mine.. and the 2 condiments that followed are Daisy's version.

As far as the variations go.. There is no dish made in Puerto Rico, that contains beer, wine, and sherry.. it isn't Puerto Rican.


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