Fall marks the beginning of many seasons, football season, the new seasons of Saturday Night Live, Dancing with the Stars and The Blacklist (YES!) and in my kitchen – one pot meal season! These one pot wonders are hearty, comforting dishes that satisfy our appetites while also giving us a bear hug from the inside out. They’re also easier on the cleanup because, well, everything happens in ONE pot! This mouthwatering recipe for Arroz con Pollo is an extremely worthy addition to the Fall one pot lineup, featuring succulent dark meat chicken, aromatic garlic, onion and bay leaf and flavorful piquillo peppers cooked together on a fragrant bed of saffron-infused short-grain rice.
Seasoned drumsticks ready for the pot!
Arroz con Pollo, aka Chicken and Rice, is a traditional dish of Spain and Latin America but has different incarnations in many countries around the world. There is actually much debate as to where the dish originated, as well as which ingredients it should traditionally include. As I have found, these debates can get um, how should I say – passionate? Puerto Ricans, for instance, believe anatto and beer are essential to making Arroz con Pollo while in Spain, saffron is used to impart the dish’s signature yellow color. Before anyone gets upset with me, however, please know, this gringa means no disrespect and while this recipe may not be 100% culturally correct – it is most definitely CRAZY DELICIOUS!
Dried Spanish saffron threads
Saffron releases its gorgeous yellow hue when soaked in white wine
Many incarnations of this dish call for a traditional Spanish “sofrito,” a mixture of garlic, tomatoes, onion, olive oil and paprika that is cooked down in advance and blended into a flavorful paste. Our recipe for Arroz con Pollo doesn’t call for a sofrito per se, yet still uses many of the same ingredients, including minced garlic, onion, bay leaf and roasted piquillo peppers instead of the tomatoes. Rather than cooking them in advance and blending them into a paste, these ingredients are added “on the fly” which streamlines the recipe while also adding tremendous flavor.
Since this recipe for Arroz con Pollo calls for a dry white wine, that’s generally what I like to serve with it; preferably, the same wine used in the recipe. And since I love the old adage, “If if grows together, it goes together,” a white Rioja, Godello, Albariño or other Spanish white wine would be fabulous. If you have a hard time finding any of these options though, or want to use something you already have on hand, a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio would also be great. When cooking with wine, always use one whose flavor you enjoy because even though the alcohol cooks off, you’ll still be left with its “essence.”
Before cooking in the oven…
…after cooking in the oven!
When you pull this gorgeous Arroz con Pollo out of the oven, the intoxicating aromas of the chicken, bay leaf and saffron will literally make your mouth water! One things I especially love about this dish, is that it is as beautiful as it is delicious. Once you scatter the peas and olives over the pan of cooked chicken and rice, the colors form the most beautiful mosaic. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do and I’d really like to know if you have any favorite one pot meals? Please let me know in the Comments section below!
Buen provecho,
The post Arroz con Pollo | AKA Spanish Chicken & Rice appeared first on The Glamorous Gourmet.
I walked into Walgreens yesterday and could not believe my eyes. Their Halloween decorations were up already! Now I L O V E Halloween (especially making this spooky recipe), but it’s only mid-August and the first day of Fall is still over a month away. Sorry, but I am NOT ready to say goodbye to Summer just yet. Thankfully, this delicious recipe for Grilled Swordfish with Romesco Sauce helps make the transition from Summer into Fall not only painless, but extremely enjoyable.
While cooking on the grill is synonymous with Summer, the rich, oily texture of the swordfish and smoky, peppery Romesco sauce conjure thoughts and flavors of Fall. I love this culinary yin-yang that makes this delightful dish perfect for savoring the remaining weeks of Summer. And what’s better than enjoying great food with friends? We were fortunate to collaborate on this meal with some wonderful friends who just happened to have some fresh, delicious swordfish steaks on hand! As we prepared the sauce and fish, their beautiful daughter (who had just broken her arm, poor thing!) picked flowers from the yard at Chez Miskew to make a gorgeous arrangement featuring gardenias, jasmine and allamanda.
Romesco sauce originated in the seaside town of Tarragona in Northeastern Spain. The sauce is a mixture of almonds and hazelnuts, roasted red peppers, garlic, Sherry vinegar and olive oil that was invented by local fishermen. Using a traditional mortar and pestle, they would grind the ingredients together, much like an Italian pesto or French tapenade, to serve with the day’s catch. Over time, different variations of the sauce have emerged such as Salvitxada, which is Romesco that’s been thickened with garlic-rubbed, toasted bread. The hearty flavors and textures of the Romesco sauce also make an excellent accompaniment for chicken and beef as well.
The ideal wine pairing for Grilled Swordfish with Romesco Sauce is a dry, Spanish white wine that mirrors its flavors and texture like the Bodegas Palacio Cosme Palacio White Rioja. Made from a blend of Viura and Malvasia grapes, this lovely wine has fragrant aromatics of pear and citrus and a creamy, rich texture that mirrors that of the swordfish. The wine also has a delightful spiciness, thanks to a little time spent in French oak, and notes of almond and citrus that highlight the acid and nutty flavors in the sauce beautifully. When pairing food and wine I usually like to stick with the tenet, “If it grows together it goes together,” whenever possible (like here and here). However, if you’re unable to find a white Rioja to pair with this dish, a full-bodied white like a New World Chardonnay with a kiss of oak will also make a very nice pairing.
I hope you enjoy our recipe for Grilled Swordfish with Romesco Sauce and that it helps you make the seasonal transition seamlessly! Do YOU have any recipes that get you through the Summer to Fall transition? If so, I’d LOVE to hear about them in the Comments sections below.
Bon appétit,
The post Grilled Swordfish with Romesco Sauce appeared first on The Glamorous Gourmet.
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