Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Baked Butter Rice and Chicken with Peas

"May Potluck", it's potluck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC). I've made two dishes from Tessa Kiros's recipes, and one from Nigel Slater. Well, actually, this meal was made a few weeks ago, when I made Nigel Slater's, Spiced Roast Potatoes with Yoghurt and Mint.  I've also made Tessa Kiros's, Baked Butter Rice and another dish, Chicken with Peas, and served with Nigel's potato dish.


Our dinner


Baked Butter Rice

According to Tessa "This can be dressed up or down as much as you like, but I love this stress-free baked rice. You can put it in the oven and go out for a walk, unlike the more usual stovetop rice that needs a touch more vigilance. It's lovely with anything that calls for white; chicken with peas, cozido, grilled chicken, tomato chilli prawns and so on. You can easily add some extra bits to take on the flavour of the meal - some fresh coriander chopped in at the end, chilli or whatever".

Just like Tessa says, this rice is really easy to cook, once the ingredients are sauteed and bring to boil, cover the pot and bake the rice in the oven for 40-45 minutes, and by then, you would have lovely, fragrant fluffy rice. I have however used Basmati rice, which works out great. And have followed Tessa's suggestion to serve with one of the dishes she mentioned above (all of which can be found in her lovely book), Chicken with Peas. But then, this rice is great served with just any dish. I would definitely cook this Baked Butter Rice again, and would add on some chopped corianders, or parlsey, to take on on the flavour of the meal, as advised by Tessa.



Chicken with Peas

According to Tessa, "This is an easy, one-pot dish that you can make beforehand, turn off the heat and serve when you're ready. I chop the onion, celery and carrot roughly in a mixer, but not too small please. This is lovely with baked butter rice, or plain boiled potatoes".

This is a tasty dish, but mine is a little oily towards the end of cooking time. The chourizo and bacon did release some oil during sauteing. This is a tasty dish. I can actually taste both the chourizo and the bacon in the chicken meat. The chicken thighs really soaked up the flavours from both the chourizo and the bacon. I have used only half the amount of peas, as my kids are not really keen on peas. The family did enjoy this chicken dish.


My potluck meal, Spiced Roast Potatoes with Yoghurt and Mint (Nigel Slater), Baked Butter Rice and Chicken with Peas


Baked Butter Rice
(adapted from "Piri Piri Starfish....Portugal Found", Tessa Kiros)
serves 4-6
50gm (1-3/4 oz butter)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 dried bay leaves
250gm (1-1/2 cups) parboiled variety of rice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 pinches of paprika
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4).
Heat the butter and oil in a flameproof casserole. (Tessa uses her cast-iron one) and saute the onion with the bay leaves until softened and sticky. Add the rice, garlic and paprika and stir the rice well so it soaks up all the flavours.
Add the stock and season, if necessary. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and put in the oven. Cook for 40-45 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. Take out of the oven and leave for a few minutes before fluffing with a fork to serve.
(I used 2 cups of basmati rice, washed, soak in water for 20 minutes, drain and cook, as above, using 3-1/2 cups of homemade chicken stock)



Chicken with Peas
(adapted from "Piri Piri Starfish...Portugal Found", Tessa Kiros)
Serves 4-6
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 bay leaves
30gm (1oz) chourizo sausage, thinly sliced
60gm (2oz) unsmoked bacon or pancetta in one thickish slice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 chicken, skinned and cut up into 10-12 pieces
250ml (1 cup) white wine
3 tablespoons roughly chopped tinned tomatoes (or 1 large very ripe tomato, peeled and chopped)
600gm (1lb 5oz) peas, fresh or thawed frozen

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the onion, celery, carrot and bay leaves and saute until the onion is golden. Add the chourico and bacon and cook for a bit longer. Add the parsley and chicken and saute for a good few minutes until the chicken too is golden. Turn now and then so that nothing sticks and burns. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the wine and let it bubble up for a minute or two, then stir in the tomato. Tip out into a large heavy casserole dish (because later on the peas won't all fit in the frying pan), cover and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat.
Take the lid off, add the peas, turn up the heat a bit and cook for another 10 minutes or so until the peas are just tender and still green. There will still be some liquid in the dish.
Taste for seasoning, turn off the heat and leave uncovered (the peas will still be absorbing some of the liquid) until you serve, with bread, potatoes, rice or whatever you like.


I'm linking this post to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC)

and 

 photo 77951578-1914-4b72-8eda-9e40a91183ac_zps331eb4b4.jpg




25 comments:

  1. looks delicious and comforting. Blessings, Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome combo of baked butter rice with the chicken. Wonderful looking pics as well.
    Deepa

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joyce, my stomach hungry already looking at your baked rice and chicken!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mmm...mm...that looks so good - I'm going to make this for dinner tonight..the rice, I mean!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - got your note, in good time. Making pineapple curry this evening. When I saw this, I just felt that the rice will be a good match! ;)

      Delete
  5. Hi Joyce,

    Being a great cook and a wonderful mum, I can imagine your family dinner must have lots of variety and fanciful every night. This one looks a spot on kind :D

    Your family is so lucky to have you :D

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete
  6. How about sparing some for my lunch .... slurp!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Joyce, I want to join you for the lunch! Love the baked butter rice which pairs so well with chicken and peas.
    Delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Joyce, that looks yummy! I wish I can eat more solids but it has been a challenge especially with meats. We discovered I had GERD and it was affecting my ability to swallow. I've been on a soft/blended diet for a month now. I'm also taking prescribed Prilosec to neutralize the acid causing trouble in my esophagus. I can't wait to get better since I love to cook and eat too! In the meantime, it's fun reading your posts and looking at your food pics!

    ReplyDelete
  9. CHICKEN! yeah! my favourite.... yet another chicken recipe to keep... ashamed of myself though, that i keep keep keep but never cook... really still phobia with fire.... can i bring my tiffin over

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Joyce, I don't mind having a plate of this anytime.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Joyce, like the chicken very much. How you put the butter rice, chicken & potato together is so nice & tasty!

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is such a great family meal! And bringing two of our IHCC chefs to the table is a tricky play! LOL! Excellent potluck addition, Joyce!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a fabulous meal - lovely flavors and ingredients -
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful Joyce, how nice if I'm your neighbor, think I will join your lunch and dinner too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. yummm, chicken and potatoes with rice, thats my kind of meal!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Joyce, thanks for giving me the idea to try baking rice - I'll be doing that now for dinner! Cheers from Carole's Chatter

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love love love butter rice!! This looks super yummy, Joyce!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. My family would be very happy if I served that wonderful meal to them. I often turn to Tessa when I'm looking for family-friendly recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Looks nice, new and professional...Find and Hire a Personal chef in Your Area personal chef service provides stress-free meals prepared to your specifications in your home

    ReplyDelete
  20. This looks so good! Must try it!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow, Joyce, two great dishes - I really need to add Piri Piri Starfish to my cookbook collection. I'm loving the sound of that baked rice, both for its simplicity of cooking and the fact that you could springboard this in so many different directions with a variety of spices and add-ins. That chicken sounds fabulous too - I bet the chicken really gets a whole lot of flavour from the chorizo and bacon and the sweetness of peas would be perfect with it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a fabulous meal. I love Piri Piri Starfish--the cover alone makes me happy. ;-) I can imagine that the rice was even better using the basmati. Perfect comfort food!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Again, another standout chicken dish! I love the looks of this entire meal and will be pinning this to make for my family. I don't have Tessa's Piri Piri Starfish but I love her recipes so thanks for sharing this one!! My teenage daughter would love the rice served with potatoes. She loves her starches and carbohydrates :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Joyce, I never knew Tessa's recipes could look or even sound that good. I must be missing something very good. This chicken looks very delicious and together with the butter rice, the whole plate is definitely packed with full of goodness. Awesome!!

    ReplyDelete