Spanish Chicken and Rice or Arroz con Pollo

So if you don't know me and you haven't guessed from the blog yet, I'm of Filipino ethnicity.  My parents made the big trip over a few years before I was born, so I guess I'm considered a first generation Filipino.

Something that my mom never let me forget growing up was that a large part of our heritage is from Spain.  A lot of the food we had growing up was not only Filipino, but had a lot of spanish influences.  I don't think I really understood the big deal about our Spanish heritage until I went to Spain 6 years ago.

When I spent some time in Salamanca not only did I get very close to the town my ancestors must have come from (it was the same name as my maiden name!), but all the food seemed so familiar!  The flavors and dishes seemed like they were coming right out of my mom's kitchen.  It was so great!  At that point in my travels I had been in Europe for about a month and it was just so comforting to eat something that reminded me of home.  Who knew I could find a little bit of home in a country I'd never been in?

So anyways, this dish reminded me of that.  It's a bit funny, because my mom has never actually made this, but the first time I tried it, I was reminded a bit of my mom's paella.  She makes it at Christmas and Easter and it's probably my favorite Holiday (Holy Day) food.

This recipe comes from allrecipes.com and is a great weeknight meal idea. 

I've taken a few liberties with it like adding chorizo!  My mom puts chorizo in her paella, so when I saw that my local butcher shop makes their own fresh chorizo, I had to try it in this!  I also don't use pimentos, but substitute green peppers and pimentos with red peppers.

Tonight I had an unfortunate ingredient deficiency.  I didn't have any chicken stock, so I had to use water.  I don't think the dish was too bland though.  It was probably saved by the extra onion, garlic, and chorizo that I threw in there just in case!  When you make it, don't forget the chicken stock!

Arroz con Pollo
(adapted from HERE)

Ingredients

2lbs chicken thighs

1 chorizo sausage cut into chunks
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic minced

1 red bell pepper diced

1 cup peas

1  1/4cup rice

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1tbsp butter

1tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp chili pdr

1/2 cup flour

1tsp garlic pdr

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.  Mix together flour, garlic pdr, and some salt and pepper.

2.  Dredge chicken in flour mixture and brown in melted butter in a large pot or skillet.

3.  Once the chicken is nicely browned set it aside.

4.  Saute the garlic, onion, red pepper, and chorizo in the same pan (complete with leftover drippings and brown bits) that you browned the chicken in.  Saute until everything is softened.



I forgot to add the chorizo tonight with the veggies.  I didn't remember until I had added the rice.



5.  Add the rice, turn the temp down and cook for a couple minutes still stirring.

6.  Add the broth, turmeric, chili powder, and a bit more salt and pepper.  Bring up to a boil. 



I couldn't resist adding a dash of this to the dish.  I don't honestly know what, if anything, it added, I just know it's really popular in spanish cooking.  No it's not in the ingredients.



7.  Pour into a baking dish and top with chicken and peas.



Before I added the chicken and peas.



8. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes to an hour until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice and the chicken is done.



Ready to go into the oven!



On my plate and ready to be devoured!  Yum!



In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Dear heavenly Father,

  thank you for every blessing and every trial you send us throughout the day.  Help us to constantly accept the grace you give us to live holy lives full of the fruits of your Spirit.  Amen.

Inihaw na Baboy with Sinangag or Filipino BBQ pork with garlic fried rice depending on your ethnic sensibilities

It finally feels like summer around here, and while for the average American/Canadian summer means hot dogs and hamburgers on the BBQ, for filipinos a hot BBQ usually means Inihaw na baboy!
Ini what?  BBQ pork for all my non filipino friends. 

If you've been to one of our family barbeque's you've most likely had Inihaw.  It's the awesome tasting pork stuff my dad was tenderly caring for on the grill. 

Tonight I feel like I finally aced the Inihaw.  My dad is the king of Steak and Inihaw.  I think this is pretty close to his recipe, but I'd be hard pressed to get any real measurements out of him.  He'd probably just say, "enough liquid to go halfway up the meat in whatever container you're using," or something like that.

The last time I had Inihaw was a few months ago on our camping trip.  Truth be told it's best over a charcoal grill or campfire, but tonight (since we live in an apartment and don't have a real BBQ) we had to make due with our Cuisinart electric grill. 

I think traditionally Inihaw na baboy is made with pork belly, but today I used pork shoulder because that's what was available at my local butcher shop.  The shoulder seemed to work very well!

If you're craving some good ol' filipino BBQ to slap on your grill, then by all means, keep reading.

Inihaw na Baboy (Filipino BBQ Pork)

Pronounced "ee-knee-how nah bah boy"

Dad's recipe........I think.

1lb of pork shoulder

4-5 large cloves of garlic minced

1/3 c white vinegar

1tbsp lemon juice

1/4c soy sauce

1.  I sliced my pork into four strips and put them into a glass container with the minced garlic, lemon juice, and white vinegar. I think the size of the pork is your preference.  Set aside the pork for 4 hours or up to a day.  I marinated mine for about 5 hours.

2.  About an hour before you intend to cook your meat bring it out of the fridge, mix in the soy sauce and allow it to come up to room temp.  Some of you may be freaking out, but this will ensure even cooking and the reduction of heat shock to your meat which makes it tough.  You're going to cook it properly right?  Don't worry.

3.  Heat up your grill/bbq!  I set the electric grill on high.

4.  Lay your meat on the hot grill and grill for 5-7 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of your pork.  Don't move it around, just let it sit so that it gets nice grill marks!  Just cook it until it's done.  If you have a grill press that would probably help cook the larger chunks more evenly, so feel free to make use of that.

The Inihaw goes perfectly with sinangag.  They're best buds.

My dad used to make Sinangag all the time when I was a kid.  He usually made it in the wok, and yes I have a wok, but honestly I was just too lazy to get another pan out of the labyrinth that is the pot and pan cupboard, so I used the cast iron skillet which is a fixture atop our stove. 

Some people really like letting a crust of rice form on the bottom of the pan that they can peel off later and eat like a chip.  My lolo (grandpa) used to love that and I do too, but the rice chip thing works better in a wok, so no rice chips for me tonight.

This rice is really versatile and is eaten with just about anything in the Philippines, so don't hesitate to make it whenever you feel a need for delicious, peppery, garlicky, rice. 

Sinangag (Filipino garlic fried rice)

pronounced as written.  "Sin-ang-ag"! 

4 or 5 cloves of garlic minced ( I tend to overload on garlic, so if you like less, you can scale it down)

2 tbsp sunflower oil (or other oil that can stand higher heat)

2 cups cooked rice (we use brown, preferably cooked the day before)

1/2 tsp dill

salt and pepper to taste

1.  Saute your garlic in oil on medium until tender.

2.  Add all the rice and mix well so you don't burn the garlic.

3.  Turn up the heat to medium high and season with salt and pepper and dill.

4.  Cook for another 5 minutes until all the rice is warm and the dill, salt, and pepper are well incorporated into the rice.

Serve hot with Inihaw!  Or anything else meaty and Filipino.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Thank you God for good memories of eating with family and friends and this food which nourished us tonight.  Please help Mikey learn to eat meat.  Amen.

UIOGD.

****Oh and for those of you wondering, yes we do eat vegetables.  Last night we had green beans and today we had salads.  I suppose I just don't find those interesting enough to blog about.  I'll have to find some more exciting veggie recipes.