Friday 12 October 2007

Chilean Chicken Casserole with Chilean Style Rice...

This is the finished product, it really is very tasty and I hope you try it.

6 chicken drumsticks
1 onion chopped finely
2 carrots peeled and sliced
2 cups of frozen or fresh peas
1/2 teaspoon of cummin powder
1/2 tub tomato paste
3/4 white wine
salt

Method

Brown and seal the chicken pieces in a little oil. Add the onion and fry a further 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the carrot and cummin. Next add your wine and cook out the alcohol for a couple more minutes. Add the peas and a cup of water. Cook for 20 minutes then finally add the salt and tomato paste.

This is served with rice as follows:

Vegeta is a powdered stock that my mother has used for almost 40 years. I use it to add to anything savoury I am wanted to add flavour to. Try it, it is really handy to have in your pantry.

This is the final stage of the casserole prior to stirring in the tomatoe paste and the last five mintues of cooking. This dish's flavours develop overnight so if you have some left or want to make extra it is even better the next day.

These are the ingredients for your rice except for the water.

Half a green capsicum, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 teacups of rice (long grain)
Salt
3 1/2 teacups of boiling water

Method

Fry the capsicum pieces in a little oil, when the aroma is released (only 1 minute or so) add the crushed garlic and almost instantly (the garlic will burn quite quickly) add you rice. Fry this until you see the rice starting to look transparent (1 minute), next add around a wooden spoon full of salt, this seems a lot but rice really needs it. Add the boiling water, taking care as it will bubble quite violently with the hot rice. Put a lid on and turn your stove top to it's lowest setting (gas or electric). In 10 to 15 minutes all the water will be absorbed and the rice will be quite fluffy when you rake it with a fork to check. I usually just grab and few grains and taste it for softness. The rice is not mushy, it holds it shape perfectly and should be soft. If it is slightly firm in the centre, just turn off the stove and leave the lid on for a minute or two to continue absorbing any liquid or steam. You should not have any water swimming around the bottom of the pot, it should all be absorbed by the end of the cooking. If you over cook it, the rice will start to brown at the bottom and burn.

This is how Luis mother cooked this dish and the rice for more than 30 years. I cook it for my family and it is quite popular. It is an easy, quick and tasty dish to cook and eat, so I say again, I hope you try it.

Vida

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hm, I sent you a comment but iot didn't go through I guess....
I can't believe you are using Vegeta!! And I cannot believe you speak Croatian!! How come?! Ahh, now you got me all excited, hehe.
Do you know I was 3 years ago in New Zealand? We have family there :)

Vida said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kajal@aapplemint said...

Hey there Vida , this looks like a very comforting dish , perfect for a Friday night night dinner. Thanks for visiting my blog:)

Vida said...

Hey Kate, likewise thanks. I love visiting your blog, you do some fantastic presentation and that is where I feel I lack the most. I am confident in all other stages of cooking but lack the lustre of beautification, but I will learn. Vida x

Melanie said...

Hi Vida... WOW!!! I am going to try this dish, it looks delicious!!! Thanks for commenting on my blog the other day and I am sorry it has taken SO long to say thanks... I will be adding you to my must see lists, I love my cooking so I will be back for hot tips. But for now, I am off to pop a homemade turkisg bread in the oven!!
x

Vida said...

Melanie, welcome! You will have to post about that turkish bread you must made! Isn't blogging funny, I found you through Christie, (we are neighbours, or were until a week ago) who had little fig, champs etc on her blog and on I went from there to you! Happy to know you... Vida x

Vida said...

Tea, my husband's sister married a man from Istria. Vida x

Paul said...

Vida, my mothers friend was from Chile and she made her rice exactly the same way. I still remember the flavour of the rice perfumed with the green peppers- it was divine. X

Sarah said...

Hi Vida,

I have vegeta too! One of my mum's friends recommended it to her.

It was so funny, when I went to Croatia for a holiday last year, they had vegeta for sale at the airport! Apparently they don't sell it in many places outside Croatia, and many visitors want to take home the secret of yummy Croatian cooking.

I guess we're pretty lucky here to be able to get it quite easily! I also found avjar at the supermarket recently - yum yum.

xox Sarah