Cozy Comfort – Chicken and Rice (Berkshire Eagle Column)
Not too long ago, I had a student who wrote a college essay about the Maurice Sendak poem Chicken Soup with Rice, and it brought back so many memories of singing Carole King’s version with my kids when they were little!
Though delicious, rice is not my personal favorite addition to chicken soup, but I love serving roasted chicken or chicken pieces with a side that can soak up all the good juices. Then I came up with the idea of roasting the chicken right on top of the rice and wrote about it for last week’s Berkshire Eagle column, a perfect cozy meal as the weather gets cooler!
SEMI-ONE PAN DINNER
by Elizabeth Baer
Some time ago there was a cooking show that used “semi-homemade” in the title. The premise was that using some prepared items but adding something extra or your own touch would yield something special with less time and effort than doing every aspect of a recipe from scratch. More recently, in a similar vein, I’ve seen recipes billed as “one-pot” dishes that actually use two (or three). Even if the recipe is very easy and streamlined, I turn and comment to my husband, “That’s not really one-pot!” (He readily agreed as he washes the dishes!)
I never mind using more than one pot – I certainly make enough pasta dinners that use two! – but I hesitate to call this roast chicken with rice dish a “one-pan” meal because after browning the chicken pieces you remove them to a bowl. I know, a bowl is not a pan, but it still is another thing to clean!
In any event, I was thinking about the recipes where I cook the pasta in just enough liquid (such as the pasta cooked in wine or the mac and cheese from two weeks ago), and how there are recipes for baking rice, and I reasoned that if I could bake chicken pieces right on top of the rice, all the flavors would permeate the entire dish.
If you have a metal roasting pan, even if it is not round (and it probably isn’t) you can put it on top of the stove for the first part of this recipe. It will also be fine with a large ovenproof sauté pan, as long as it is big enough to hold everything.
My kids love za’atar, an herb and spice blend that usually includes oregano, thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds, but there are countless versions favored by different cooks. Along with za’atar, I used preserved lemons and olives for a Mediterranean flavor profile. In case you can’t find preserved lemons in the store, I am including instructions for using a regular lemon. And you can omit the olives if you prefer – I have friends who will not go near an olive! Or make this even more your own and use your favorite herb and spice combination, maybe herbes de Provence, which would also work with the lemon and olives. If you devise a great combination, let me know!
CHICKEN ROASTED OVER RICE
Serves 3-4
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or 4 tablespoons olive oil to omit butter)
1 medium onion, diced
1½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
Several grinds of fresh pepper
1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (or other combination of pieces)
1 preserved lemon, rind cut into ¼-inch julienne and pulp squeezed for juice
-or-
1 lemon, 4 thin slices from the middle and the rest juiced
¼ cup pitted olives chopped, black, green, or a mix (optional)
2 teaspoons za’atar, divided (or other herb blend)
2 cups rice, long grain or jasmine
1 cup store-bought chicken stock + 2 cups water
-or-
2 cups homemade chicken stock + 1 cup water
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Combine the olive oil and butter in a metal roasting pan or a large ovenproof sauté pan. Heat over medium-high heat until butter is melted. Add the onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper, and sauté until the onion is softened and translucent. Add the chicken pieces, starting skin side down. Leave skin side down for 3-4 minutes so it releases easily. Turn pieces to brown on the other side. Remove to a bowl.
To the pan, add the lemon, olives (if using), and 1 teaspoon za’atar. Mix to combine with the onions for a minute. If using a regular lemon, place the slices flat in the pan so they can brown a bit. Add the rice and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and stir to mix the rice with the oil, onions, lemon, and olives.
Pour in about 1 cup of stock and scrape off any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining stock and lemon juice, and turn off the heat. Place the chicken pieces back in the pan on top of the rice skin side up, and sprinkle the remaining teaspoon za’atar on top.
Carefully place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the liquid has absorbed. Remove from the oven and check to make sure the rice is al dente. Sometimes the very top layer of exposed rice isn’t fully cooked, but just push it with a spoon into the rice underneath and let sit for a few minutes. Be sure to use potholders to remind you that the pan is hot, especially on the handle if using a sauté pan.