Reply
Sat 28 Jan, 2012 07:36 am
oNE OF THE NEIGHBORS OF MY GRANDPARENTS WAS FROM PUERTO RICO and she made A KILLER CHICKEN AND RICE DISH. iT WAS ALL IN ONE POT AND HAD A WONDERFUL CHICKNY AND A CHILEEY TOMATOEY TASTE WITHA NICE RICE BASE. I think some onions were in there too.
Any recipes that some of you Hispanic guys or Tex Mex guys have in your files?
Im looking to make this dish for tomorrow and there was a spice that was like a 5 spice powder but with a less "candy" flavor
Any help, discussion, cautions, or sources of stuff would be greatly appreciated
@farmerman,
I wonder if the spice was
Goya's Adobo.
@jespah,
WELL, Nobody has come up with anything (((sob))). so I put together something from my taste memory.
I fried the chicken thighs to just brown them and then coated them with the goya and some cinnamon (teeny bit)
Then I did the rice
2C brown
2 big onions fried
1/2 lemon, very thinly sliced and then chopped into smaller slivers. These wre then put into the frying pan woth the onions (being fried in the goodness of the fat that was being reedered by the chicken
1Pk cilantro and chile (Goya spice)
! 28 oz can of fire roasted and chopped tomatoes
1/4 c Heinz chili sauce
Pepper to taste
3T sugar
1/2 t mambasa pepper (v v hot)
salt to taste
I put it all together and while the rice was cooking all the sauces and tomatoes were put in and let on very low gas flame for about 45 min.
Then it was turned off and let sitting to develop some body and flavors
We will et this at 6:30 EST
I shal report back .
@farmerman,
The chicken/rice combo with tomato is a Spanish classic. You can get variants from almost all of the countries that had Spanish invaders/explorers. It's not particularly Tex-Mex, especially if you're after a Puerto Rican effect. The spicing is different.
http://www.whats4eats.com/poultry/arroz-con-pollo-recipe
http://southernfood.about.com/od/skilletchicken/r/bl40613n.htm
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spanish-chicken-and-rice/
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/josephines-puerto-rican-chicken-and-rice/
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1942,158165-245207,00.html
Pimiento and/or citrus come up in a lot of the Puerto Rican variants of Arroz con Pollo .
@ehBeth,
I haven't had arroz con pollo all that many times and my memory of it is fairly bland. I am assuming this is wrong, might have been a silly cafe or two or three, but don't know. I think spice usage varies in Mexico as well as for the rest of us.
(The people from India that owned our building and ran a restaurant did not serve flaming food that I had grown to expect from people from India).
Where is Fbaezer to set us straight?
@ossobuco,
Fbaezer would give us a take on the Mexican, not the Puerto Rican that fman was looking for. Need to get Marco in here for the Puerto Rican flavours.
@ehBeth,
You're right, of course. But Fb is somewhat cubano..
I'm all ready to listen to Marco.
@ossobuco,
Plus, farmer was talking about Texas, for goodness sakes! Talk about adulterated.
This is a Puerto Rican family recipe from Daisy Martinez, (PBS's Daisy Cooks show). Haven't tried this one, but have tried others of hers and they were great.
Chicken with Rice (Arroz con Pollo)
Ingredients
1/4 cup Achiote Oil, recipe follows
1 (3 to 4-pound) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
Fine sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Sofrito, recipe follows
1/4 cup alcaparrado or coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed olives
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch ground cloves
4 cups long-grain rice
5 cups homemade or store-bought reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 large bottled roasted red peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips (about 1 1/2 cups)
Directions
In a paella pan or wide, shallow pan with a tight-fitting lid, heat the Achiote Oil over medium-high heat until the oil is rippling. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add as many pieces skin side down to the pan as fit without touching. Cook, turning as necessary, until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the pieces as they are done and set aside. Adjust the heat under the pan, especially after you start removing chicken, so the chicken browns without the oil darkening.
When all the chicken is removed from the pan, add the Sofrito and alcaparrado. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to high and boil until most of the water is evaporated from the Sofrito. Add the cumin and cloves.
Stir in the rice until coated with oil. Return the chicken to the pan, pour in enough broth to cover the rice by the width of 2 fingers (about 1-inch), and bring to a boil. Cook over high heat until the level of liquid reaches the rice. Stir gently and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook until the liquid is absorbed, the chicken is cooked through, and the rice is tender but firm, about 20 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork. The arroz con pollo can be brought to the table right in the pan or transferred to a large serving platter. Either way, garnish with the red pepper before serving.
Achiote Oil:
1 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons achiote (annatto) seeds, see Cook's Note*
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 will turn a nasty green. Once they're sizzling, remove the pan from the heat and let stand until the sizzling stops. Strain and reserve in a jar with a tight-fitting lid at room temperature for up to 4 days.
*Cook's Note: Achiote seeds are a deep orange seed with a nutty flavor. They are available in many supermarkets and almost all Latin markets.
Yield: about 1 cup
Sofrito:
2 medium Spanish onions (about 12 ounces), cut into large chunks
3 to 4 Italian frying peppers or Cubanelle peppers, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks
16 to 20 cloves garlic, peeled
1 large bunch cilantro, washed
7 to 10 ajices dulces (see Cook's Note*), optional
4 leaves culantro (see Cook's Note*), optional
3 to 4 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 pound), 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 1 at a time and process until smooth. The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also freezes beautifully.
*Cook's Note: Ajices dulces are little sweet peppers that look similar to the fiery hot Scotch bonnet or habanero peppers, only smaller. They have a wonderful fresh herbal flavor, almost like cilantro, but only a tiny bit of heat. Culantro is an herb with broad, round-tipped leaves. Its flavor is similar to cilantro, but much more intense. Both ajices dulces and culantro are available in Latin markets. If you cannot find them, simply increase the amount of cilantro to 1 1/2 bunches.
Yield: about 4 cups
@Butrflynet,
Whoa, looks complicated but I will try your recipe Buterfly. Thank you all, Ill read them as I get the urge the next time.
My recipe, generated vi my memory was just ok. The spices needed were just not all there and I didnt put in enough of the chile variants.
Ill bug Marciano for a recipe if he can come up with one. I forgot that he was from Puerto Rico.
I think I didnt have enough pf the pepper ciilantro mix. I added cilantro SEEDS which, when you hit one, you always chewed it and it released a neat flavor surprise.