Week 8 - South of Border Again!

First pasta over and over again and now Mexican food.  We definitely get into ruts around here; but usually in a good way.  This week we were going to grill, but the grill was way dead (trip to Home Depot next week for a new one!) so we decided to go with Arroz con Pollo instead.  For the gringos and gringas in our loyal readership that would be "rice with chicken".  Deliciously slow cooked chicken and rice to be exact.

We started out dicing a bunch of veg.  One white onion, one whole red pepper, a carrot and two celery stalks all got a small dice.  Everything the same size for even cooking! (I swear I must say that a million times to Wes as he breaks down the produce.)  No pictures here -- I figure you know what Wes looks like with the knife by now.

Next three medium sized (meaning normal size, not those mutant, hormone grown monstrosities from the mega mart) boneless, skinless chicken breasts went into our dutch oven with a little olive oil.  These were cooked until they started to get a good brown on the outside, but definitely not cooked through.  Medium high heat helps speed this along and also builds that good crust on the bottom of the pan.

Next went the vegetables with a pat of butter for flavor.  Onion and carrots first because they take longer.  Pepper and celery next, all cooked until translucent.  We worked the tasty burnt chicken bits off the bottom using the moisture from the cooking vegetables.  Two cloves of garlic got minced and tossed in and let cook for a couple of minutes.

The next step is a big cheat, but it saves a bunch of effort.  We took a box of Spanish rice (spice packet included!) and dumped the whole thing into the Dutch Oven.  Goya is the favorite brand here, but any cook in a pot kind will work.  A couple of big stirs to let the rice and spices coat all the vegetables, then we added one large can of diced tomatoes and nestled the chicken back into the pot with all this goodness.

Wes shook up a carton of chicken broth, and that was added until everything was covered in liquid.  Once the liquid started to simmer, on went a lid and the whole thing was dropped to low.  Wes went and played Legos and we let the whole thing cook for about 30 minutes.  I checked about 20 minutes in to make sure there was still liquid cooking away.

At the 30 minute mark we took the lid off and fished out the chicken breasts.  We took them over to a cutting board and Wes shredded the whole thing into little delicious pieces.  Wes insisted on calling it a tearing board for the rest of the night.

After a quick trip to pick some cilantro from our garden we were ready to eat.  Wes had seconds, I ate myself sick, and mom saved everything for leftover lunches all week long, so I think it turned out pretty well.

Next week -- the long awaited return of Ask the Kitchen Ninja!