Cuban Arroz Con Pollo

Mob week may be over, but I'm doing one more mob inspired recipe: Arroz con pollo, in honor of Scarface. Vamos a Miami, for a taste of Little Havana!

Miami is known for a lot of things. Great weather, the occasional hurricane, teeny-weeny bikinis, techno music, and lots of Cuban immigrants and refugees. This has left the city with a strongly Cuban influenced cuisine, of which Tony Montana would definitely have enjoyed.

Arroz con Pollo is probably one of the most famous of Cuban dishes, after the Cuban sandwich. I was looking for more of a challenge, so I opted to make arroz con pollo instead of the very tasty sandwich. This dish's unique yellow color comes from annatto seeds, or achiote in Spanish, rather than saffron threads, used in the Spanish version of this dish. (There's also a Mexican version, which is red in color).

I pulled this recipe from a website called Taste of Cuba, here is the link. All kinds of interesting looking recipes on this site! I halved everything on the original recipe, adjusting it down for two. Despite this, there was still plenty left over. Otherwise, I followed Taste of Cuba's recipe almost exactly

The original recipe called for an entire chicken, cut up. I used only two large chicken breasts, with bones. It's important to get bone-in breasts/legs/thighs for a recipe like this - the bones add more flavor. I stripped off the skin, leaving just a bit of fat. Helped cut back on the calories. I shredded the chicken before serving, removing the bones. (I told John to eat with caution anyway.)

To make arroz con pollo, I needed to create annatto oil from the seeds. Of course, I couldn't find the seeds anywhere, not even in my local Hispanic market (which is entirely Mexican in its bent). I did however get lucky and find Sazon Goya - annatto and cilantro flavored seasoning packets at Wal-mart in the Hispanic foods section. Not exactly right, but when I looked at the back it said 'will add flavor and color (my own emphasis here) to your food!' I figured I had a winner, and it turned out I did!

Before placing the chicken in to pan-fry, I added a bit of the Sazon Goya to the olive oil, and fryed it for a minute to get the yellow coloring. As you can see, it added a brilliant orange tinge to my chicken breasts.

Arroz con pollo had a unique, tangy sort of taste, from the wine and beer combination. The alcohol burns off as it cooks, leaving just the flavor of the beer and wine. I used a dry sauvignon blanc, but a chardonnay would work well, too. John and I decided that if I make this again, it could use some spice to it (we are both heat lovers). I'd add perhaps a dash or two of cayenne pepper, or a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

 

Served with rolls. I could also see this paired with a nice crusty bread. And a mojito or two.

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Cuban Arroz con Pollo

by Adapted from Taste of Cuba August-5-2012

A classic, tangy taste of the island

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 TBS red wine vinegar
• 1 TBS olive oil/annatto oil
• Broth
• 1 TBS Annatto oil or Olive oil
• 1/2 tsp (do not use if using annatto oil) Sazon Goya, achiote flavor
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small tomato, seeded and diced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (sauvignon blanc or chardonney)
• 1 1/2 cups beer
• 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 tsp annatto seeds/sazon goya
• 1/2 TBS tomato paste
• to taste salt
• to taste freshly cracked pepper
• 2 cups (or less, if prefered) uncooked rice
• 1/2 can green peas

Instructions

1 Wash the chicken breasts and blot dry with paper towels. Mix the oregano, cumin, white pepper and vinegar in a large bowl. Add the chicken, mixing to cover with mixture. Allow to marinate at least 15 minutes.2. Heat 1 TBS oil in a large pot. Brown the chicken pieces, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a platter, and drain all but 2 TBS of the fat.3. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic to the oil in the pot, cooking over medium hot until soft, about 2 mintues. Do not brown. Add the tomato and tomato paste and cook for one more minute. Return chicken to pot and cook for about 1 or 2 more minutes.4. Add the water, wine and beer, annatto/sazon goya, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, to boil off alcohol. 5. Thoroughly was rice, swishing with your hands until water runs clear. Drain off the water. 6. Bring chicken mixture back to a boil, stirring in the washed rice. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes. If the dish is getting to dry and the rice is still not tender, add more water. If it becomes too soupy, uncover for the last 10 minutes.7. Five minutes before it is done, add 1/2 the peas. Garnish with the remainder.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 1 hour 15 mins Total time: 1 hour 45 mins Yield: 6 servings