Arroz con Pollo
This is a great one pot meal. The ingredients are inexpensive but the resulting dish is impressive enough to serve to guests. My recipe is a variant of one published by Pierre Franey in More 60-Minute Gourmet. Both this book and its predecessor 60-Minute Gourmet are highly recommended. Though they are out of print it’s easy to find a decent copy used at Amazon.
Unlike Franey, who uses a whole chicken, I generally use chicken thighs (bone-in). Whole legs (thigh + drumstick) are also good, but if you use them you should separate the thigh from the drumstick – if you haven’t done it before, it’s a bit tricky to find the right spot to cut – you want to go through the cartilege, not the bone. Bone-in thighs need longer to cook than boneless cuts, which means the rice will have enough time to cook without drying out the meat.
Saffron has the reputation of being very expensive. It is expensive, if you consider its cost per ounce, but what is often missed is that a pinch of saffron doesn’t weigh very much, and is enough to flavor (and color) a potfull of food.  Depending on where you buy it and in what quantity, I would guess that this represents less than a dollar’s worth of saffron. A sweet onion costs about as much, and yet nobody seems to think using an onion in a dish like this is extravagant. If you like saffron, you should consider buying it in quantity. My last order was from saffron.com, and 1/2 ounce has lasted me several years.  If you have the option, always buy thread saffron rather than powdered.
A note on quantities: the original recipe called for less rice, but it always seemed that the rice went before the chicken, so I’ve upped it from 1 cup to 1 1/2. You could easily go to 2 cups if you like rice. Once you’ve decided on a quantity of rice, figure on about 2 1/2 cups of liquid for each cup of rice. This will produce a slightly soupy result, if you want it drier use only 2 cups of liquid per cup of rice.
Finally, you should use a pan that allows you to spread the chicken out in one layer & still leaves some room for the other ingredients. A 12″ frying pan is ideal. If you don’t have a big enough pan, use 2, and if necessary saute the chicken in batches & transfer 1/2 to another pot to finish.
To serve 4:
- 8 chicken thighs, bone-in
- olive oil
- one large sweet onion (Spanish or Vidallia), chopped
- 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 red peppers, cored & seeded, chopped
- generous pinch stem saffron
- a large tomato, cored & cut up; or 1/2 can plum tomoatoes, cut up. You can substitute diced canned tomatoes but avoid crushed or pureed tomato if possible
- 1 cup dry white wine (optional – if you leave this out, compensate with a little more chicken broth)
- 1 1/2 cups rice – I prefer Arborio, but you can use ordinary long-grained rice instead.
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 crumbled dried red pepper, or 1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes, or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- salt and pepper to taste
Saute the chicken pieces in a little olive oil, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Add the onion, garlic, pepper, and saffron, and continue sauteing for another 5 minutes (the vegetables should not brown). Add the wine & allow to boil for a minute or two. Then, add all the remaining ingredients except the peas. Bring back to a boil, adjust heat to a simmer, and cover. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring periodically. After 10 minutes, flip the chicken pieces over. Try to make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the pan & that no rice grains are left high & dry outside of the liquid.
At this point, you should check to see if the chicken is done. Choose one of the larger thighs & cut into it down to the bone; it should look cooked & the juices should not run red. If in doubt, give it another 5 minutes.
Finally, sprinkle the frozen peas over the dish, toss to mix, adjust the seasonings, and simmer for another 5 minutes to heat the peas through.