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.

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