SPANISH-STYLE ARROZ CON POLLO

As my husband grows older, his taste in foods grows less and less circumspect.  He rarely tries anything new any more, and claims to abhor the flavor of thyme and several other herbs.  He doesn't like hominy, Brussel sprouts, salmon, trout, lemon, plain rice, garbanzo beans, black beans, liver or stewed tomatoes.  He also cringes every time I suggest having chicken.  In fact, he pretty much cringes at the thought of any type of poultry.  Okay, so he'll eat fried chicken but that's not exactly on our heart-healthy list these days.  He will grudgingly eat boneless skinless chicken breast meat -- providing it is prepared in a manner that suits him, and those are few and far between.  As head cook, meal planner and economist in our household, it is utterly EXASPERATING because it seems like every time I find an appealing new recipe, it calls for one of the "forbidden" ingredients.  *sigh*  I am CONSTANTLY on the prowl for new ways to prepare chicken, hoping to find one that's actually acceptable to him.

Last night was the "drop dead" date on the chicken I had in the fridge.  You know:  that "use or freeze by" date.  Personally, I had a hankering for my grandmother's Chicken Cacciatora.  The suggestion was met with a stony stare.  Back to square one.  After scouring my library of cookbooks for inspiration, I finally decided to create my own recipe.  It's not 100% new and original, because it draws upon a combination of several flavors that I know work together, but the end result was quite tasty -- and he ATE IT!  Without complaint, I might add, even going back for seconds.  So, without further ado, here is what I came up with:

SPANISH-STYLE ARROZ CON POLLO

(aka Spanish Rice Skillet with Chicken)

Serves 8

4 strips thick-sliced good quality bacon

3 pounds meaty chicken pieces **SEE NOTES BELOW

salt & pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, seeded & chopped

14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles

2 cups chicken broth (canned or homemade; you can also use bouillon cubes or soup "base" to make up 2 cups worth)

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. hot sauce (I used Frank's RedHot)

1 cup uncooked white rice, any kind

In a 12" skillet (preferably non-stick), fry up the bacon just until crisp.  Remove the bacon and set aside, but leave the drippings in the pan.  When the bacon is cool enough to touch, cut it into 1/2" pieces.

Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt & pepper, then brown them in the bacon drippings, turning as needed.  Remove the browned chicken parts from the skillet to a plate.

Now add the garlic, onion, celery and bell pepper to the skillet and saute for about 5 minutes, or until the onions go translucent.

Add the diced tomatoes with all the juice, the chicken broth, basil, oregano, cumin, hot sauce and the cooked bacon pieces.  Heat to boiling.  Add the rice, stirring well, and then place the browned chicken parts on top.  Cover and reduce the heat so that everything simmers gently.  Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid.  Check to see if the rice is done.  If not, add about a 1/2 cup of water -- or more if needed -- and continue cooking (covered) until the rice is tender.  

Yields 8 to 10 servings.

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**NOTES:

My chicken was a big 5-pounder; I used the breasts, legs & thighs for the recipe, and the remainder went into a pot to make chicken stock for another meal.  I removed the skin from the breasts and added that to the stock pot, but left the skin on the legs and thighs -- you need some skin for added flavor.

Here's a hint about portioning chicken parts.  Whole chickens run rather large these days, so here's what I do.  I strip the "tender" from each breast half, and then cut each "supreme" (that's what the rest of the breast half is called) into two serving-size pieces.  This way, the breast yields 6 pieces.  Combined with the legs and thighs, you have 10 pieces in all which realistically works out to about 8 actual servings (I count 1 drumstick and 1 breast tender as a single adult serving).

I apologize for not having photos of this dish.  It was late, and I got lazy  :-)  I'll try to get pics the next time!

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