I have liked watching Sohla’s videos. This chicken and rice dish sounds nice as you can adjust the spices and vegetables. The fat rendered from the chicken thighs add lots of flavor to the rice instead of leaving the bits on the pan they get absorbed by the liquid. I like the idea of mixing the sofrito sauce in a blender. I may try a hand blender to make the cleaning easier. Instead of just roasting thighs in the oven and making rice in a rice maker using a one pot method seems to add a lot of flavor. The dry brine seems better to coat for 24 hours but can be done in the morning day of for almost as good an effect. I used a cast iron put but could use a ceramic dutch oven as well to better store the liquid. Also some people worry about the acid from the tomatoes reacting to the cast iron. As long as the cast iron is seasoned should be fine.
Food52 chicken and rice video on youtube
Ingredients
- 4-6 bone in thighs with skin on
- 1 1/2t smoke paprika
- 3 1/4t black pepper
- 1 1/2t kosher salt
- 1 1/4 basmati or jasmine rice
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- olive oil to coat the pan
- 1 inch chopped green beans, about 1-2 pound
- 2t salt, to taste
- optional, olive oil, lemon wedges after cooking for added flavor
Steps
up to 24h before
- pat chicken dry with paper towels
- mix paprika, pepper, salt
- evenly sprinkle seasoning mix all over
- let sit for 24h, in fridge
15m to 2h before
- rinse rice a few times about 3, until mostly clear
- let sit soaking in water while preparing other ingredients
- drain when ready to add rice to cast iron
prepare sofrito
- rough chop pepper, onion, garlic
- use blender until smoothie consistency
in cast iron
- add olive oil to cold pan
- heat pan to medium
- add thighs skin down
- sear until fat has rendered and skin in brown
- remove chicken thighs
- add aromatic base
- cook until texture of tomato paste
- add more smoked parika
- add tomatoes
- add rice to base before water, coat with mixture
- add green beans
- add 2 cups water
- add salt, taste until broth is seasoned
- add chicken skin side up
- adjust heat until small bubbles and simmers
- allow to cook for 20-25m
- when serving drizzle with olive oil, can provide lemon wedges
