Sunday Supper: Arroz con Pollo

Sundays come too quickly at the Copake house. There's always something we didn’t get to—planting the cucumber seeds in the garden or the daisies next to the stone wall. Carl, Vivi, and I like to prolong our stay as much as possible so as to get the most out of the house and the yard. We usually leave after dinner, around 6:00 or 7:00. This past weekend we had one major chore that had to get done—sweeping and mopping all the floors. Every floor in the house, including the kitchen, is wood so this is no small feat. When it comes to a division of labor, Carl usually does more of the cooking and I do more of the cleaning. We both find our respective duties therapeutic. When he asked me would I prefer to cook or clean, he sensed my hesitation and immediately volunteered for the less desirable of the tasks. He gave me the chef’s toque and a recipe of arroz con pollo.

Carl’s mom Kay lives in the apartment attached to the house and is part of our dinner planning each weekend. Sometimes she even convinces us to let her cook for a change. The chicken dinner was a joint effort of sorts. Kay had chicken thighs in her fridge that she donated to the recipe. Carl had made some chicken stock weeks earlier that I was able to use, and the onion, peppers, lemon, canned tomatoes, and rice came from the local Super Y grocery store in Great Barrington, Mass. It’s a fairly simple recipe involving browning the thighs for about 5 minutes a side, followed by adding your vegetables (peppers, onions) to soften, the stock, and the rice last. This should be a one-pot meal but I didn’t have a Dutch oven to go from stove to oven. I browned the chicken in batches in a cast-iron skillet. Up to the point of adding the stock and rice, I continued to use the skillet. Once I had to put the chicken back into the mixture for cooking in the oven, I transferred all the ingredients to a Pyrex baking dish. This worked totally fine. I covered it with tin foil and baked for 30 minutes. The rice softened perfectly and the chicken became flavorful sucking up the juice of the tomatoes, the stock, and the flavor of the peppers, onions, and garlic.

As the oven timer buzzed, Carl just finished mopping the kitchen floor—the last one of the house. We all sat down to eat (rather slowly) enjoying our last minutes at the house before packing up the car. Kay volunteered to clean as we made our rounds of closing windows and packing bags, including our leftovers, for the trip home. This week we didn’t leave until 8:00 p.m. Where does the time go?

Here's the recipe. (Adapted from the ivillage.com recipe newsletter)
Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
8 chicken thighs
1 onion, finely sliced
2 red bell peppers
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
one 14.5-oz. can chopped tomatoes, drained
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1 cup long-grain rice
pinch of saffron threads
3 1/4 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup frozen peas, rinsed


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish over high heat. Add the chicken thighs and brown, turning once, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Pour the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the casserole and reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook about 3 minutes, until softened. Stir in the green and red peppers and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, until they soften. Add the tomatoes, smoked paprika, thyme, oregano, and bay leaf, then stir in the rice. Stir for 1-2 minutes.

Crumble in the saffron, then stir in the stock, tomato paste, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Return the chicken thighs to the casserole, nestling them in the rice. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Add the peas and bake for 10 minutes more, or until the rice is tender and has completely absorbed the cooking liquid. Serve immediately, while still hot.