Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice)

 

Arroz Con Pollo

I've always referred to this as Spanish Chicken and Rice.  I can't recall where I found the recipe but I'm pretty sure Better Homes & Gardens, either the cookbook or magazine.

My family loved it the first time I made it.  I've now been making it for 25 years now.  I've never tried to make this less expensive.  I always felt it was a good economical meal to begin with because it started with bone in chicken.  I could buy a whole cut chicken for less than $1 a pound back in the day and now I can still purchase a whole one for $1.49/pound which is a fair price.  

I have occasionally used boneless skinless chicken pieces but the bone in pieces is really the best for the dish in my opinion.

I like to use the yellow rice packets you buy at the store.  I've tried several different brands: Zatarain's, Vigo, Mahatma and the one from Aldi.  They are all pretty much the same, so buy what's cheapest/most convenient for you.

The rest of the ingredients are things I typically have on hand in my pantry: onions, pimentos (you can sub in fresh red pepper and a splash of vinegar), green peas, olives or capers.  Besides salt and pepper that's pretty much it.

Arroz con Pollo

2.5 pounds bone in chicken pieces

salt and pepper

smoked paprika (optional)

1 medium onion, diced

5-ounce packet yellow rice mix

Water called for on packet (I like to add a teaspoon of dry chicken bouillon powder)

2-ounce jar of red diced pimento

2-ounces sliced pimento stuffed olives OR capers (about 2 tbsps)

8-ounces frozen green peas (or drained canned peas)

Salt and pepper chicken.  Brown in oil in large frying pan.  Turn to brown other side.  Remove from pan and set aside.  

Add fat to the pan if necessary.  Add chopped onion and cook until translucent.  

Add packet of rice mix and water called for on package.  Here's where I also add in the chicken bouillon powder and stir all well.  Place chicken pieces in rice and water mix.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and cover with a lid.  Cook for amount of time package says on rice.  Mixture may be a little saucy.  Check internal temperature on chicken to insure it's fully cooked.  

Add pimentos, olives or capers and green peas.  Cover and let residual heat warm the last additions through.  

This is delicious on day one and even better as leftovers.

Lena's Russian Cabbage Rolls

Several years ago, I used to read a blog written by a young Eastern European immigrant girl who had married and was living in the U.S.  Her name was Lena, and she was a whiz, absolute whiz, at saving money.  She also happened to be a pretty good cook, as I can attest because I tried several recipes she shared.  

Once I'd tried her recipe for Russian Cabbage Rolls, I knew I'd found my lifelong recipe for that item.  It had all the elements I liked plus the wonderful addition of spices and dried fruit.   

Lena's Russian Cabbage Rolls

1 pound ground beef

1 cup cooked rice (I use uncooked instant and it works out just fine)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Cooked cabbage leaves with woody stem part removed (blanching is fine)

2 cups canned tomatoes

4 cups broth (I like to use beef broth)

1/2 cup raisins

Mix ground beef, rice, and seasonings.  Stuff the cabbage leaves and layer in the bottom of a heavy pan.  I use my slow cooker.  Pour over tomatoes, beef broth and add the raisins.  Bring up to a boil, lower to simmer and cook for 1 hour.  In my crockpot, I cooked for 6 hours on low heat.

This is a saucy mixture.  I serve it simply, over a mound of mashed potatoes.   And it's even better the second time you serve it if you happen to have leftovers.

Bulloch House Broccoli Strata

John and I love to visit the Bulloch House restaurant in Warm Springs, Georgia.  We began going there years ago when it was actually set up in an old lovely home.  In 2015 that house burned down, much to my sorrow.  Then I heard that the restaurant had decided to set up business in an old store front downtown.  We go there four or five times a year.

Really, it's just a country buffet with about the same menu as always.

One dish I've had only once, and I was wowed by it.  I could tell it had broccoli, but I was puzzled about the other ingredients. When I asked for the recipe, I was given a list of ingredients.  Not quantities, just the ingredients.  The list consisted of croutons, broccoli blue cheese dressing, milk and eggs.   I searched in vain for years for a recipe with similar ingredients, but I was hindered by not knowing the name of the dish.  Then one day it occurred to me that the ingredients were basically a strata recipe.  I looked up broccoli strata and finally managed to replicate it here at home.

In the restaurant, the dish was served as a side dish, but honestly it could easily be a main entree. It's got plenty of protein and flavor and would be just lovely with a side salad.

This is my recipe based upon my knowledge of the original dish contents and scaled down from restaurant size to a smaller size.  You can double easily and make a 9 x 13 pan instead of an 8 x 8 pan.

Broccoli Blue Cheese Strata

4-5 slices bread 

4 eggs 

2 cups milk 

1/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups steamed broccoli florets and stems

1/2 cup prepared blue cheese salad dressing

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

Cut bread into cubes and toasted at 350F for about 9-10 minutes.  Watch carefully and be sure to stir gently.  Cool slightly

Grease an 8 x 8 pan.  

Mix eggs, milk, butter, grated cheese, dressing and salt and pepper.  I use standard measures of about 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper.   Add croutons and broccoli.  Mix well and pour into the prepared pan.  

At this stage you can cover and put in fridge overnight.  I prefer to let it sit on the counter about a half hour or so.  Put into 350F oven and bake 35-45 minutes.  Should be puffy, golden and set.

Chicken Parmigiana

 

Chicken Parmigiana with Green salad and Croutons

My leftovers:
                      1 very large fried chicken breast half
                      1/4 jar of dried tomato pesto
                      1/2 jar Pizza sauce
                      4 slices ripe tomato
and from the fridge:
                     minced garlic
                     shredded mozzarella
                     Parmesan/Romano cheese
from the cupboard:
                    4 ounces Angel Hair pasta

I stripped the meat from the bone (and some of the excess skin and breading, too) then sliced the breast.

I diced the tomato and mixed that, garlic, dried tomato pesto and pizza sauce together.

After cooking the pasta, I drained well, put in a casserole dish and layered on chicken slices, pizza sauce and cheeses, then baked until bubbly.

I'm not sure John even realized it was leftover fried chicken.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Kebabs

  

Sweet and Sour Chicken Kebabs with Pineapple Rice and Corn Muffins

My leftover ingredients:
                                    1 leftover BBQ chicken breast half
                                    4 slices juice packed canned pineapple
                                    1 1/4 cups cooked white rice
                                    3 corn muffins
                                    1/2 cup homemade BBQ sauce
Additional ingredients:  
                                    1/2 large red onion
                                     Stem end pieces of four green bell peppers

I cut the chicken into cubes, and cut large pieces of pepper, onion, and pineapple.  Since the vegetables were raw and the chicken wasn't, I knew that I needed the extra moisture of the pineapple to help the vegetables steam as they broiled.  I alternated the meat, vegetable and pineapple on the skewers then added a bit of the pineapple juice to the BBQ sauce to thin it a little and spread that over the skewers:

I put the kebabs under the broiler and then moistened the rice, using the last of the juice from the pineapple:

and heated that in the microwave.

In about ten minutes time we had this on our plates:

 and we were ready to eat.  It took about 20 minutes to assemble and cook.  It tasted very much like a Sweet and Sour Chicken.  Mmmmm mmmm!

Extremely Soft White Bread

 Extremely Soft White Bread

In the summer of 2019, I hauled home Mama's unused bread machine.  I'd had the idea that it would eliminate heating up the whole kitchen to bake a loaf of bread in the big oven.  I was right.  I experimented with several recipes from the bread machine manufacturer as well as from recommendations made by others.  Then I found this recipe one morning as I was looking online.  I'm sharing it as it was written from Food.Com.

• 1cup warm water
• 2teaspoons yeast
• 3tablespoons sugar
• 1⁄4cup vegetable oil
• 1teaspoon salt
• 3cups white flour
• • Put your hot water, yeast and sugar in your bread machine. Let stand 6-12 minutes depending on the temp of your water. Your yeast will foam.
  • Add remaining ingredients.
  • Use rapid or basic white cycles.
  • Or bake for 25 minute @ 350.
• I can vouch for this recipe.  I've been using it exclusively now for about 3 years and it's never failed me yet.    We do prefer to bake it in the oven when the weather allows.   However, you make it, it's a lovely loaf of bread.

Potato Doughnuts

 

I found this recipe a couple of years ago when I happened to have a few leftover mashed potatoes, more than I typically do.      These doughnuts were a hit with my family.  We had some sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and some of the other frosted and decorated with sprinkles. My family was amazed to learn that I used mashed potatoes in the dough!

This recipe is courtesy of Tasty.co

Potato Doughnuts

Ingredients

for 18 donuts

• 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup mashed potato
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 qt canola oil, for frying

COATING

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Nutrition Info

Preparation

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into a medium bowl.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 1–2 minutes. Add the granulated and brown sugars and the mashed potatoes and cream until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
3. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mashed potato mixture and mix on medium speed until mostly incorporated. Add the buttermilk, and mix until almost combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and use a spatula to finish mixing until just incorporated.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 1–2 minutes, adding up to ¼ cup (30 g) more flour as needed until the dough is cohesive and no longer sticky.
5. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to ½ inch (1 ½ cm) thick, flouring the dough as needed.
6. Use a 3-inch (7 cm) round cutter to cut out donuts. Use a 1-inch (2 ½ cm) round cutter to cut out holes from the centers. Set the donuts and holes on a baking sheet. Re-roll the dough scraps and cut out more donuts. Refrigerate the donuts and holes until ready to fry.
7. Heat the canola oil in a large pot fitted with a deep fry thermometer over medium heat until it reaches 375°F (190°C). Set a wire rack over a baking sheet and place nearby.
8. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Set near the wire rack.
9. Working in batches, fry the donuts and holes in the hot oil for about 2 minutes per side, until deep golden brown. The donut holes will take less time than the donuts. Transfer to the wire rack to cool for 1 minute, then carefully toss in the cinnamon sugar.
10. Eat warm, or let cool completely.
11. Enjoy!
12. The original recipe here gives instructions for frying the doughnuts. I purchased some doughnut pans quite a while back on Amazon.com and prefer to use those to bake doughnuts.  375F oven for about 15-18 minutes will work just fine.  Place the 'holes' on a baking sheet and bake them alongside.