Pollo Spagnolo

 What to make for dinner. The eternal question.  

Sub-question:  Should we just have chicken again, its getting boring?

This is the conversation starter 4 or 5 days a week at my house and it happened again yesterday afternoon.  The work day was winding down, the sun setting early, its reign shorter by leaps and bounds on these new Fall days.

Hunger told me that I wanted something full of comfort food level satisfaction, but my tired self wanted something easy.  

Chicken!!  Sure we had some thighs in the freezer but dang, I wanted something different. Something at least moderately interesting. What else did I have in the pantry and garden that could go together?

Normal stuff of everyday eating:  rice, beans, sure.  Newly harvested peppers and jalapenos, oh yes. I  just made a gallon of chicken stock last weekend and a plan was starting to come together.

Easy, yes that was a requirement. something I could put together in a single pot and just enjoy a glass of wine while the oven timer counted down.

The result was a subtly spicey, Spanish chicken and rice oven bake.

Ingredients:

A 12" ovenproof skillet  (cast Iron is best if you have it)

6-8 bone in thighs with skin intact (6-8 depending on the cut. They should fit snugly in your 12" skillet)

Rice - White, one cup.  Rinsed until the water runs clear

Black beans - canned is okay if this idea hits you 2 hours before dinner time.  If canned, rinse well 

1/3 lbs cherry tomatoes halved

Bell peppers - 1 large, or in my case two med/sm from my garden.  color important only for artistic presence and impact

Jalapeno peppers 2, or any medium hot peppers that you like, seeded and diced

1 medium onion  diced

4 cloves of garlic grated or chopped super fine

a stick of cinnamon (1.5 inches long)

2.5 cups of chicken broth 

2 tbsp EVOO

What to do: 

Salt and pepper your chicken on all sides

In your skillet put in olive oil and thoroughly brown the chicken, about 4 minutes  a side.  Put the chicken aside on a plate.

In the still hot skillet, toss in the onion and bell peppers and saute until just beginning to become soft.  Salt and pepper generously.  This should take about 8 minutes.

Add the hot pepper, garlic, and cinnamon stick. Cook for about two minutes until your kitchen starts smelling like heaven. Add a bit more salt and pepper.

Add the black beans and tomatoes in an even layer, then sprinkle the rice over the top

Add the chicken broth, then the chicken 

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. The chicken broth should all be absorbed and the chicken an amazing golden brown

Let cool for 10 minutes out of the oven, dust with some cilantro and enjoy.

Oh yeah yeah yeah...