A Thousand Miles From The Place I Was Born

For this month’s Daring Cooks Challenge, we traveled to Spain and made a delicious rice dish from Jose Andres. The original recipe called for cuttlefish, which is a relative of octopus and squid. Although I distinctly remember Lauren as a baby gnawing on squid tentacles as we ate calamari one night, I doubt she would go for it now. So I decided to replace the cuttlefish with chicken, and SCORE!!! For the first time in forever, Lauren actually cleaned her plate and asked for seconds!! I will be making this dish again and again and again!

Rice with Mushrooms, Artichokes and Chicken
Cooking time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients (serves 4):

* 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
* 5 big red ripe tomatoes, chopped
* 2 small onions, chopped
* 1 green pepper, chopped
* 4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
* 2 cup mushrooms, chopped (divided) – I used button because I was trying to hide them, but any kind is fine.
* 3 Bay leaves, divided
* Salt
* Pinch of ground cumin
* Pinch of dried oregano
* 1 can artichoke hearts (not marinated)
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 1 pound chicken, cut into cubes
* 2 cups Short grain rice (I used Arborio)

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large stockpot. Add tomatoes, onions, green pepper, garlic, 1 cup of mushrooms and 1 bay leaf. Season with salt, cumin and oregano. Simmer for 1 hour until vegetables are tender. Set aside.

2. Cut the chicken into cubes. I seasoned mine with a little salt and pepper and a bit of Penzey’s Salsa Salad Seasoning.

3. Add remaining 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan and put the chicken in the pan. Cook until it begins to brown.
4. Add artichokes, remaining 1 cup of mushrooms and remaining 2 bay leaves. Sauté until artichokes begin to turn golden.
5. Stir in 1 cup of chicken broth, making sure to scrape up all the yummy bits on the bottom of the pan.
6. Add about 1 cup of tomato mixture and stir to make sure the chicken and vegetables are coated in the mixture.

7. Add the rest of the chicken broth all at once and bring it to boil.
8. Add all the rice. Let boil for about 5 minutes on high heat.
9. Turn to low heat and boil for another 8 minutes (or until rice is a little softer than “al dente”)
10. Remove from heat and let the rice stand a couple of minutes.

I froze the leftover tomato mixture to use the next time I make this recipe (which will be very soon, I can tell you that much!) Doesn’t this look divine?? And hey, if my kid will eat it, it’s worth the effort!