Ybor City Chicken and Yellow Rice
Ingredients
- 2 saffron pistils
- 1 T chicken broth (hot; measure 1 cup chicken broth, use 1 T here, and reserve the rest for later.)
- chicken pieces (for 2 people)
- 1 T olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- 2 t butter
- 1/3 c minced onion
- 1/3 minced red bell pepper
- 2/3 c rice (uncooked)
- 15 T chicken broth (this is 1 c minus 1 T)
- 1/3 t salt
- 1 bay leaf (small)
- 1/2 c frozen peas
- sliced roasted red pepper
Method
Put the saffron in 1 T hot chicken broth to bloom. Set aside for 2 hours (up to 12, if needed).
Preheat the oven to 325F.
After the saffron has been steeping for 1.5 hours, coat the chicken pieces in oil, salt, and pepper; bake about 30 minutes, until they reach 165F internally.
While chicken is baking, melt butter in a large oven safe skillet. Add the onion and pepper and saute until the onion is translucent.
Add the rice. Stir the rice around in the oil with the onion and pepper until it starts to take on a slight golden color. Add the chicken stock, saffron and its liquid, salt, and bay leaf.
Place rice skillet in oven, and bake until all the water is absorbed.
Cook the peas, just until hot, and still crisp.
To serve, you can either leave the chicken pieces whole and serve on a bed of rice, or tear the chicken into small pieces and mix with rice. Both are good. Either way, rice goes on bottom, then peas, then chicken, then roasted peppers. It makes a colorful, impressive stack of yummy.