Chicken with rice "Arroz con pollo"

Ingredients:

Arroz con pollo

• 4 cups long grain rice
• 1 chicken, cut into 10 pieces (1.4 - 1.8 kg)
• 2 large canned roasted red peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup annatto oil (see recipe below)
• 5 cups chicken broth
• Fine sea salt and ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup sofrito (see recipe below)
• 1/4 cup olive-caper mixture or coarsely chopped olives stuffed with pimento peppers
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• A pinch of ground cloves

Sofrito

• 2 medium Spanish onions, diced into large pieces (about 340 g)
• 3-4 large Italian or Cubanella peppers, cored, seeded and finely chopped
• 16-20 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 large bunch of cilantro (washed)
• 7-10 ajices dulces (sweet peppers), optional (see cooking tip)
• 4 leaves of eryngium, optional (see note)
• 3-4 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and diced (about 450 g)
• 1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large pieces

Annatto oil

• 2 tablespoons annatto seeds (see note)
• 1 cup olive oil

Preparation:

1. In a paella pan or a wide, shallow skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat the annatto oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
   
   Place enough chicken pieces skin-side down in the pan so they don't touch each other. Cook, turning as needed, until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. When the chicken is done, remove the pieces from the pan. Adjust the cooking temperature accordingly, especially after you start moving the chicken, to ensure the chicken browns evenly and the oil doesn't brown.
   
   Once you've removed all the chicken from the pan, add the sofrito, olives, and capers. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Increase the heat to high and cook until most of the moisture has evaporated from the sofrito. Add the cumin and cloves.
2. Stir the rice until it's completely coated with oil. Return the chicken to the pan, pour in enough broth to reach two fingers' height (about 2.5 cm) above the rice, and bring to a boil.
   
   Cook over high heat until the liquid reaches the level of the rice. Stir gently and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pan and cook until the liquid is completely absorbed, the chicken is cooked through, and the rice is tender but firm, about 20 minutes.
3. Fluff the rice with a fork. This dish can be served straight from the pan or transferred to a large serving platter. In either case, garnish with red pepper before serving.
   
   Annatto oil: In a small skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and annatto seeds until the seeds begin to sizzle cheerfully and continuously. Be careful not to overheat the mixture, or the seeds will blacken and the oil will turn an unpleasant green color. When the seeds begin to sizzle, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit until the sizzling stops. Strain the oil and store in a jar with a tight-fitting lid at room temperature for up to 4 days.
   Exit: about 1 tbsp.
   
   SofritoIn a food processor, coarsely chop the onion and Italian pepper (or Cubanelle pepper). With the processor running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and blend until smooth. Sofrito can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. It also freezes well.
   Exit: 4 tbsp.
   
   *Note: Annatto seeds These are deep orange seeds with a nutty aroma. They can be purchased in many supermarkets and almost all stores selling Latin American products.
   Ajices dulces – This is a small sweet pepper that looks like a very hot Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, only smaller. It has a wonderful herbal flavor, almost like cilantro, but a little less spicy.
   Feverweed (or Eryngium) is an herb with broad, rounded leaves native to Mexico. Its flavor is similar to cilantro, but much more intense. It is used in Caribbean, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisine, as a seasoning, and in marinades. Both peppercorns and eryngium are available in Latin American grocery stores. If you can't find either, simply increase the amount of cilantro in the recipe to 1.5 bunches.