Comida con Pablo: Arroz con Pollo

Brought a few simple recipes to Tennessee because I really wasn't sure what kind of ingredients that I would find here. There is a serious lack of beef cuts available, mostly steak and pounded steak. At least the chicken packs seem to be familiar. There is a minor Mexican food section in the grocery store and a surprisingly decent produce section. All of the ingredients that are required for making Arroz con Pollo.

Adapted from Sunset "Fresh Ways with Chicken".

Start by marinating bone-in, skinless chicken thighs with crushed garlic, salt, ancho chile powder, and cider vinegar in a Ziplock bag for an hour.

While the chicken is chilling, dice a couple red bell peppers, onions, and carrots. Fry four thick slices of bacon in a pot and put on a paper towel for later use. With remaining bacon grease (Tennessee style), saute the diced vegetables.

Once the chicken is marinated, push the vegetables to the sides of the pot and put the chicken pieces in the center browning the outside for a couple of minutes on each side. Push the browned chicken pieces to the side again opening up the center for additional pieces. Continue these steps until all the chicken is browned, then stir up the pot contents.

Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, and red pepper flakes. Simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and transfer the pot contents to a baking pan. Add rice to the top, cover pan, and put into oven. After 10 minutes, turn chicken over and mix rice around. Cover and put back into the oven for another 10 minutes. Again, move the chicken and rice around. If the contents are a leaning dry, add some water.

Cover and again put back in oven for another 10 minutes. At this point, the chicken and rice should be cooked. Now its time to remove the chicken meat from the bones. Luckily, my sister-in-law is a doctor and showed me an easy way to remove with the hot meat without burning my fingers. The double-tong-pinch-and-pull. Same technique used to remove people organs.