I was home for the weekend visiting my parents and putting in my family "bondage" time, we decided on Saffron Chicken for dinner because, well, it's tasty and easy. Throw everything in a pot, stick it in the oven and it serves a ton of people.
Saffron Chicken
Pieces of 1 whole chicken - cut the breast and thighs into large bite-size pieces (bout 2 inch cubes)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tiny pinch of red pepper flakes
2 bay leaves
1 heaping tsp. of tomato paste
1 can of chopped tomatoes
2 cups of chicken broth
1 very large pinch of saffron threads (don't be shy here)
1 cup of rice
EVOO
S+P
Preheat oven to 350F. In a large Dutch oven, heat up olive oil. Liberally salt and pepper the chicken pieces and toss to make sure they're coated (you can throw on a bit of EVOO if you wish). Brown the pieces of chicken, you may need to do 2 batches so you don't over crowd the pot. Pull out browned pieces of chicken and put aside. Add some more EVOO and saute the pepper, onion and garlic. S + P, add the bay, red pepper flakes, and continue to saute till the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the can of chopped tomatoes, the tomato paste and the chicken back into the pot, stir to combine. Add the chicken broth and the saffron threads, stir to combine. Then add the rice and mix around, add some more S+P if necessary. Then put the lid on and stick in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once done, let sit for about 10-15 minutes to set with the lid on.
Goes really well with a salad of arugula, avocado, slivered almonds, shaved radish, segmented orange and a balsamic vinaigrette.
