Recipe: Basmati Arroz Con Pollo

We're combining chicken, rice and banana leaves in a recipe from this weekend's Savor St Pete Food and Wine Festival. This dish was shared by Chef Rosana Rivera, whose ‘Chef & The Baker’ cafes recently reopened after hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Click here for a printer-friendly version of the recipe below. If you make it, send us a photo and let us know how it turned out! 

And let us know if you have a Chef or recipe you'd like to see on Dinner DeeAs! Email us, DinnerDeeAs@fox.com or message us on Facebook or Instagram.

See more Dinner DeeAs every weekday at 1pm on FOX13. 

Basmati Arroz Con Pollo

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup vinegar (apple cider or white vinegar)
• 1 tbsp Adobo seasoning
• 1 tbsp Sazon seasoning
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Annatto seeds (for coloring, quantity not specified)
• ¼ cup green pepper, finely diced
• ¼ cup white onion, finely diced
• ¼ cup culantro, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp Sazon seasoning
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 1 cup basmati rice
• salt, to taste
• optional: ½ cup pitted green olives, ¼ cup capers nonpareil, red pepper strips

Directions

1. In large bowl, combine chicken thighs, olive oil, vinegar, Adobo seasoning, Sazon seasoning, and kosher salt. Toss to coat and marinate for 30 minutes, or refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Heat additional olive oil in large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add annatto seeds and cook until seeds turn black and oil is colored. Remove seeds; retain oil.
3. Brown marinated chicken in annatto-infused oil, 4–5 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
4. Blend garlic, green pepper, white onion, and culantro to make smooth sofrito paste.
5. In same skillet, sauté blended sofrito for 2-3 minutes, then stir in Sazon seasoning, along with olives and capers if using, for 30 seconds.
6. Stir in tomato paste and cook for additional 30 seconds to 1 minute.
7. Stir in rice and toast one more minute.
8. Return chicken to skillet. Add water, season with salt as needed, and bring to simmer.
9. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 20–25 minutes. If using banana leaves, cover rice with leaves before putting on lid.
10. Once rice is cooked, allow to rest 5-10 minutes before stirring.

Berry Rice Pudding

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup basmati Rice
• 33 fl oz whole milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
• ⅓ cup blueberry xompote
• 10 strawberries, sliced
• sprinkles, for garnish

Directions

1. Rinse rice under running water 3–4 times until water runs clear to remove excess starch.
2. After rinsing, soak rice in water for 10-15 minutes.
3. In medium saucepan, combine soaked and drained basmati rice, whole milk, and cinnamon stick. Set over medium heat and bring mixture to boil, stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking.
4. When mixture comes to boil, reduce heat to low. Cover saucepan and let rice simmer about 20 minutes, or until tender. Remember to stir mixture occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to pot.
5. Stir sweetened condensed milk into saucepan. Continue to simmer mixture on low heat for additional 10 minutes, or until pudding has thickened and most liquid has been absorbed.
6. Once pudding has reached desired consistency, remove saucepan from heat. Allow rice pudding to cool for short time, then carefully remove and discard cinnamon stick.
7. Layer slightly-cooled rice pudding with blueberry compote and freshly-sliced strawberries in individual serving bowls.
8. Refrigerate layered rice pudding at least 2 hours to ensure it cools completely.
9. Before serving, garnish chilled rice pudding with colorful sprinkles.

To grab more recipes from Dinner DeeAs, click here.