Some recipes I share with you are new, some are retro favorites.

The arroz con pollo (chicken with rice) dish today is a little of both. 

It was so long ago I don’t remember exactly when, but my then Ecuadorian boss’ wife, Dora Almeida, gave me her recipe for this popular one pot meal. 

It was an easy recipe for a young cook venturing out into ethnic dishes.

Dora’s recipe made the rounds in my cooking classes, and it was always a hit.

Well, a different version popped up on one of my social feeds and I just had to try it. Martha Stewart’s recipe features pimiento stuffed olives and saffron (yes, saffron is mentioned in the Bible), like Dora’s. Unlike Dora’s, Martha’s arroz con pollo includes white wine, which ups the flavor profile considerably.  A slight adaptation turned out so yummy that I wanted to share it with you. 

Arroz con pollo

Ingredients

1/2 cup white wine – I used chardonnay

Pinch saffron threads or more to taste – this gives the rice a golden color

6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs, legs, or combo

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

1 large onion, diced fine

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

1 large tomato, chopped

2 bay leaves – I used fresh

1-1/2 cups short grained rice – all I had was basmati so used that

3 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed

1 cup pimiento stuffed green olives, drained

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Combine wine and saffron in a cup and set aside. A little saffron goes a long way so that’s why you use just a pinch at first. Let it sit a bit before deciding to add more. 

Season chicken with salt and pepper. 

In a large Dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add chicken, skin side down; cook just until skin browns, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook 2 minutes more; transfer to plate. It won’t be cooked through.

Add onion and garlic and turn heat to low. Cook until onion softens, about 4 minutes. 

Turn heat to medium, then add tomato and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in wine-saffron mixture, bay leaves, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook until wine almost evaporates, about 6 minutes.

Stir in rice, broth, and olives. Put chicken on top of rice, skin side up and scoot it around to nestle in.

Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook until liquid is absorbed and chicken is cooked through, 25 minutes or so. 

If you want add a little more chicken broth for a moister rice. Let sit 10 minutes, then uncover and serve.

Tips: 

Best place to store saffron

In the freezer. 

What is saffron?
This exotic, very expensive spice, is laboriously hand harvested in the morning. It’s the stigmas (colored threads) of the saffron crocus. Real saffron has threads with variations in color, ranging from deep red to orange, with a strong aroma that “blooms” and colors slowly in liquid.

Check out Aladdin site for really good and interesting information on saffron and how to tell real from fake.