Mike Pearce said:"Richard Periut" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Arroz Con Pollo A La Chorrera (Yellow Rice With Chicken & Bitter Beer)
This is a popular Cuban dish, which blends the flavors of the Old World (Spain), with the New
World (The Americas). It is of Cuban origin, and very much eaten amongst Cubans. The beer should
be a bitter one like Fosters Bitter, or Pilzner Uriquel from Czechoslovakia. There are many
versions out there, but this one is taken from an old Cuban cookbook written by the Julia Childs
of Cuba (Nitza Villapol.) I have tasted dozens of versions, and this one seems to be the most
authentic and popular.
Ingredients:
1 Chicken (about 3.4 to 4 pounds)
Olive Oil) one quarter of a cup
1 Medium White Onion (Finely chopped)
3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1 Medium Sized Green Bell Pepper Finely Chopped (Remove seeds from the peppers you will use)
Salt & Fresh Cracked Black Pepper To Taste
2 Cups of Water
2 cups of Rice (The best rice to use is called pearl rice, also known as short grained rice, also
known as risotto Italian rice) It is not long grained! It is more like short spherical grains,
although not that spherical. (This is an essential part of the recipe) Goya has a good version.
1 Red Bell Pepper that has been charred all over an open flame. ( Just put the pepper on an open
flame, turning every now and then, until black all over. When cool to touch, take the black skin
off under running cold water. Cut into strips of about the length of the pepper, and set aside for
the decoration of the dish.
Saffron half a teaspoon of threads (Very Important for the dish. It is
what
Quoted message said:imparts the dish its flavor.) If you wish, with the saffron, you may add half a teaspoon of yellow
coloring (like Tumeric).
3 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste
2 Cups (or more if needed) of Bitter Beer.
Half a Cup of Loose Green Peas or (Petit Pouis) Little tiny green peas that sometimes come frozen
or canned.
Take the chicken and cut it into drumsticks, thighs, wings, and breast cut in quarters. Save the
rest of the carcass for chicken stock if you want. I like to remove the skin from the breast and
thighs, but leave it on the wings and drum sticks.
Clean under cold water, and pat dry each piece with paper towels.
In a Dutch Oven add the olive oil. Heat at medium/high heat for a couple of minutes so that the
chicken sizzles when placed in the pot.
Add the chicken pieces one by one to form an almost single layer. Do not overcrowd or pot will
cool and chicken wont brown nicely. Add salt & pepper to taste. When browned on one side, turn
over, and again, salt & pepper to taste. You may need to do it in two batches (depending on the
size of the pot.)
Cook over medium/high heat until golden on both sides. Remove the chicken from the pt, and
place aside. Discard all but about 2 tablespoons of fat from the pot. Scrape the pieces of
chicken that are stuck to the pot, with a wooden spoon. When the oil is hot again, add the
onions and green bell pepper, and saffron threads broken up with your fingers. Sauté until
onion is a little transparent. Afterwards, add the garlic (avoid burning the garlic which
imparts a harsh flavor to the food) and stir for a minute or two more.
Now, add the 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, and cook for another two minutes, while stirring.
After the two minutes, return the chicken to the pot, add the rice, and stir. Cook for another
minute. Now add the two cups of water, and stir the whole thing. Cover with a lid, lower the heat
to low/medium (make sure the rice doesn't burn), and cook for 30 minutes. During those 30 minutes,
you must stir the dish about 2 times. No more than that or you will break the chicken and make the
rice very gooey. If you find that the rice is sticking to the bottom, scrape it gently, and lower
the heat.
After the 30 minutes, add half of the green peas (save the rest for decoration), and add the beer
(you may add more beer if you notice that the rice is too dry; use judgment.) Stir it once more,
to get all the beer into the rice. Lower the heat to low. Cover again, and cook for another 15 to
20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. The rice should be fluffy, and not hard, nor too mushy.
If it is hard, add a little (half
a
Quoted message said:cup) more beer, and cover and cook over low heat for another 10 minutes. You may sometimes need to
repeat the last step 2 or three times.)
Correct for salt & black pepper to taste.
After that, give it a good stir, transfer to a large serving plate, and add the remaining peas
on top. Arrange long slices of the charred red pepper, so as to adorn the dish.
Serve with a nice cold beer that you were using for the cooking. A complete delicious and
nutritious meal in one!
Enjoy,
This recipe is fairly close to the way my grandmother and mother would make Arroz con Pollo.
They'd use dry sherry rather than beer and add it when the water was added for the rice. They
would also use tomatoes rather than tomato paste. Oh, and bijol rather than saffron.
Arroz con pollo is just about my favorite Cuban dish. When I was growing up it was something
special when we had it. I have very fond memories of Sunday dinners over my Grandmother's house
eating arroz con pollo with all of my cousins. My mom and I were just talking about it the other
night. I've got to make some soon.
-Mike
Dum spiro, spero. (Cicero) As long as I breathe, I hope.
