Cooking Anyway

I've been feeling under the weather lately and the last thing I've wanted to do is cook. But I've been doing it anyway. I made a commitment to myself (and to you) to see this thing through and so far I have, even if things haven't gone as planned.

Yesterday was supposed to be arroz con pollo and collard greens day, but I just wasn't up to it. Instead, I made onion soup and threw in the last of my croutons, some fresh mozzarella, asiago cheese, and chopped onions, garlic, and parsley. It was delicious and heart-warming, and I'm glad I made it. Thanks to the food yenta for the inspiration - here is a link to her french onion soup recipe, although I should mention that I opted to be lazy and just modify some Pacifc organic onion broth I found at the grocery store.

So back to the arroz con pollo. I decided to make it for a few reasons, the most important being that the fiancé loves rice, one of my best friends recommended making it, one of my other good friends gave me her family's recipe, and a restaurant downtown makes something similar that I love and I wanted to recreate it at home. That's a lot of motivation for one meal, so I've been a little worried about it living up to the hype. Even though I wasn't in the mood to make it, the fiancé stepped up and was really supportive by offering to be my sous chef. And so, we embarked on this recipe together.

Here are the things we did wrong:

• I boiled the chicken breasts whole instead of cutting them up, so it took over an hour for them to cook. I eventually had to take them out of the pot and cut them so that they would finish cooking in time for us to go to work.
  
• We didn't start cooking early enough, so the extra time on the chicken meant that we had to put the food in tupperware and eat at work instead of at the table together
  
• Initially we only had one cup of rice in the pot, but it wasn't enough so I added another half cup of uncooked rice later. This increased the cooking time and created a problem later when some of the original rice started to stick to the pan.
  
• We didn't season the chicken before we put it in the water (although we seasoned the water), so it came out a little bland.
  
• I sautéed the vegetables in a pan instead of a big pot, so we had to transfer everything later. This wasn't a problem as much as it was a pain in the butt.

But, more importantly, here are the things we did right:

• We added chipotle chorizo chicken sausage to the dish, which ramped up the flavor and spice.
  
• We listened to Jessica's recipe instead of the one we found online - the olive juice was genius!
  
• We used chipotle spiced olives in with the rice
  
• We added some cooking liquid in with the chicken and used it to finish cooking the rice so that it cooked together nicely and absorbed the flavors.
  
• We heated the stock pot before we transferred the veggies so that it continued cooking no problem
  
• It turns out that we don't like our rice al dente, so slightly overcooked was perfect for us.

Notes for next time:

• It may be called arroz con pollo, but it's better with chorizo.
  
• Always give yourself more time than you think you'll need.
  
• Follow Jessica's Aunt Marylisa's awesome recipe! (note: Like many other great cooks, Jess doesn't use exact measurements. Listed below are my general guidelines for enough for 4 people.)

Marylisa's Arroz con Pollo:

You'll need:

-    olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of a pot)

-    1 onion 

-    2 peppers, any color (I used orange)

-    3 cloves of garlic

-    1 jalepeno (optional)

-    cocktail olives in liquid (I used chipotle olives from the olive bar, but you can use
     whatever you like)

-    2 cups of rice (uncooked)

-    3 cups of chicken broth

-    spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder (for the chicken), cumin, paprika, whatever else
     you think will go well

-    a splash of lemon juice (for the chicken's water, you can leave it out if you
     don't have it)

-    capers (also optional, but they go well with the olives)

-    chicken, as much as you want. (You can use on the bone or breasts, it's up to you. 

     On the bone may be more flavorful, but it will also be more fat)

-    al fresco chicken chipotle chorizo (optional)

1. Saute the peppers, onion, three cloves of garlic, and one jalepeno in olive oil
2. Season your chicken. Boil it in water with lemon juice, a splash of olive juice, salt, pepper, and garlic. 
3. Once your veggies are sauteed, add in cumin, paprika, and whatever other spices you'd like. Also add "a little glug" of olive juice.
4. Add the rice to the veggies and let it toast up a bit in the mix. Then add chicken broth, olive juice, and a smidge of water and let the rice cook.
5. Once the rice is cooked, shred the chicken and add it in with the rice with some chopped cocktail olives and the capers.
6. Cut the sausage into thick slices, brown in a frying pan with a little olive oil, and add to the rice before serving

**A note about adding salt - the olives and olive juice add a lot of saltiness, so make sure you taste it before you add too much additional salt.

And now for some pictures:

This is the chicken chorizo we used in the recipe

While we were cooking

Extreme close-up (because that's my favorite way to see food!)

Overall, despite the long cooking time, I think it turned out really well. I'm proud of myself for sticking with this and cooking anyway. Thanks again to everyone who's been reading my blog and leaving comments here and on facebook - I really appreciate your advice and support!