Skip to main content

Chicken and Rice, A Staple


Guess I should not have counted the number of days in a row a brand new meal was served.  Today an all time favorite from the T&T list was served as backup to the dinner originally planned.  Chicken and Rice was one of the few meals saved from my childhood at moms.  She'd make a pot of chicken and rice when she knew in advance the week was going to be busy.  As an adult looking back, on the days when dinner was not served at the table because one or the other was working late, I don't know when my parents ever ate dinner, if they ate dinner at all.  Those are the nights when chicken and rice saved the day as it is a meal that only gets better as it sits in the fridge waiting its turn.

There are many variations of chicken and rice.  Some with veggies, some with creamed soup, some baked, and some flavored to different ethnic flares.  Mom's chicken and rice was one step above poverty food and I LOVED IT! Wait, I still LOVE it.

Ingredients:
One chicken, boiled and shredded
One yellow onion, finely diced
One celery head (more details on this later)
One bay leaf
1-1.5 cups white rice
Salt and Pepper

Instructions:
In a large heavy bottom pot, place quartered chicken including hearts, gizzards, neck.  To pot add yellow onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste, celery base*, and water to cover chicken.  Cook on low until chicken is literally falling off the bone adding more water as needed. 

From cooled pot, remove celery base and chicken bones.  Return chicken pieces to pot, along with celery moon slices and rice.  Based upon the amount of rice added more water may or may not be needed.  If adding one cup of rice, two and half cups of broth will be needed.  If adding 1.5 cups of rice, close to four cups of water will be needed.  Upon addition of water, give chicken, celery, rice mixture a good stir adding more salt and pepper if needed.  Cook on low until rice is done.  Check after 20 minutes to see if more water or chicken broth is needed.

* Celery will be cut into thirds.  Not equal in sizing, the uneven thirds each serve their purpose.  From the celery head, cut off bottom base where the white turns green (this goes into the stock pot).  To the remaining two thirds, remove the thin inner ribs with leaves, slice into 1/8"-1/2" thick half moons and set aside for later usage.  This should amount to about a one cup of celery moon slices. What is left of the celery are what is now know as the heart, the larger thick ribs with no leaves perfect for snacking. 

Scaled for Likability: Great
Arroz con Pollo, Chicken Fried Rice, or Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo.  I have had them all but love mom's plain chicken and rice the best.  When times are hard thighs only with extra rice and celery are cooked.  What I never skimp on is the homemade chicken broth.  If a chicken cannot be boiled off the none, then chicken and rice is not had.  Therefore anytime a chicken needs to be boiled for a recipe and the broth is not needed, the broth is frozen for later usage.  When using leftover chicken broth, the broth is boiled with the celery base and onion before adding the boneless chicken to cook.  For meals that are simple in flavors such as this chicken and rice, it is important to use quality broth for a rich, depth of flavors.  Trust me, it is worth the time. 

Thank you, mom!

Popular posts from this blog

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup.  Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too.  Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup  are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water.  Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender.  Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

Way Too Rich, Extra Heavy Cheesecake

Pictures are deceptive. What this picture of this recipe does not show is how old and faded the print out paper is, how many stains are smudged across various spots, and the numerous notes written in the top right corner with the first one dating back to college days in 2001.  Yikes, twenty years ago makes this paper print out old, no wait, that makes me old.  Eek.   Sadly, my current living quarters do not allow for cooking of this cheesecake.  In fact the last time this recipe has been made have been close to six or seven years.  That is just too long.  Too long.  Luckily, we are spending Spring Break at family with a real oven.  A family who will help eat this oh so rich, very decadent, supremely yummy cheesecake. Modifications Made: There are four keys to a successful cheesecake. ONE: all ingredients must be room temperature.  If your house is ice chest cold, then warm the ingredients on the stovetop. TWO: do not over mix.  Excessive mixing creates air pockets resulting in split mi

The Great Freeze 2021 Vegetable Broth

Good grief, this cold snap.  Every year I wish and wish for cold weather so this table can eat soups without melting.  Well this year winter came and came with a vengeance.  Two days below freezing with no water, no power, no internet/cell service.  It's the dark ages.  If you need more info just search for Texas Grid Failure 2021 .  Yes, this tragic affair has its own wiki page.  Good grief. Did you know that if temperatures drop below freezing for too long, refrigerators will not keep your cold stuff from freezing?  Well, they don't.  And with 17℉ temps, this tables fridge contents froze.  What to do with a fridge full of frozen fresh veggies? Veggie stock. No recipe was used, it was just all the veggies in the fridge (white and yellow onions, garlic, jalapeno, green onions, three roma tomatoes, celery, two russet potatoes, seven carrots, and a red and green bell pepper) salt and pepper, and enough water to just touch the top layer of veggies.  I did not want the veggies floa