Arroz Con Pollo

I was immediately drawn to this dish when I first saw it in a cookbook in Asturias. It looks so much like the kind of food I grew up eating, so I knew it would be my sort of recipe.

I am uncompromising when it comes to recipes involving stewed chicken. There are no shortcuts worth taking in recipes like this. Properly stewing a chicken takes time. First we make a stock and cook the chicken. We do these at the same time in a slow cooker, overnight.

Ingredients

For the Broth

• 1 whole chicken, cleaned
• 2 bay leaf
• 2 whole onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 ribs celery
• 1 tbsp pimentón
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 10 whole peppercorns

For the Stew

• Meat from one chicken
• 320g short grain rice
• 150g baby carrot, frozen
• 150g corn, frozen
• 150g green beans or peas, frozen

Instructions

Making the Broth

1. Combine all the broth ingredients in your slow cooker, and fill with water to just cover the chicken (about 2 quarts).
2. Set the slow cooker to low and let cook overnight.
3. In the morning, turn off the slow cooker and remove the chicken to a strainer set over a bowl. Let cool.
4. Once chicken is cool enough to handle; remove meat from bones.
5. Discard bones and skin; save meat for the stew.
6. Strain broth, discarding vegetables and seasonings.
7. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
8. Skim fat from surface.

Assembling the Stew

1. Return the chicken meat to a large pot, along with the vegetables, the rice, and the skimmed broth
2. Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium-low
3. Let simmer for one hour. Serve hot