Baked Chicken and Spanish Rice

My daughter keeps asking for random things today. ‘Maple syrup Mommy?’, ‘Mommy, please, I have some cake, please?’ Or, ‘I think I need a cookie, just a little bit Mommy’. Notice it’s all sugary no-good stuff. And all day long, every day, she will ask for cereal. She loooves cereal.

I finally made baked chicken and Spanish rice for dinner yesterday and it was so deliciously good my husband was amazed it wasn't a box mix. I’m kicking myself because I served it up to Stephen, Willow and Stephen’s brother Nick and THEN, after everyone had been eating for a good five minutes, remembered I was supposed to take a picture. Ugh. And this is the one meal I really wish I could show you. So you are just going to have to trust me that it was awesome. Or better still, make it yourself. You won’t be sorry.

For the chicken, I bought some bone-in chicken breasts and seasoned them with a little bit of salt, pepper and old bay seasoning. I fried them in a couple tablespoons of olive oil over high heat for a few minutes then transferred to a baking dish which I’d drizzled in some olive oil also.

I got a ¼-1/2 stick (2 oz) of butter and rubbed over the chicken. Could also slice into small pats and place around the chicken. And then, what really makes it yummy; I crushed some garlic cloves (I say some, it was more like a whole head of garlic) and scattered them around the pan. Laying some on the chicken and some underneath.

Roasted the breasts in a preheated 400F oven for half an hour and then turned the oven down to 350Ffor about another 20-30 minutes. When they were done, the chicken was so juicy and moist and flavorful and went great with my Spanish rice.

For the rice - and you must make the rice!, take 2 cups of white long grain and fry it (just to brown) for a minute or so in the same skillet used for the chicken, adding just a touch more olive oil. Chop up one onion real thin and a little red pepper and add it to the skillet along with 1 tsp minced garlic.

While the onion is softening, bring to boil in another saucepan: 4 cups of chicken stock with 1 chicken OXO cube (bouillon), about a heaping tbsp tomato paste, salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, onion salt and oregano and add to the rice in the skillet. Bring to a simmer, cover, and let cook on a medium-low heat for about 25 minutes or 'till the rice is done. Turn off the heat and let it sit in the skillet for a few minutes. Fluff and serve. To make this even better add about a 1 cup of diced canned tomatoes, drained. I will do this next time. And that next time will be soon.