Arroz Con Pollo

I made Arroz Con Pollo the other night and it was terrific. I found a great recipe for Mama's Puerto Rican Arroz con Pollo. I made a few changes to the recipe since I didn't have all the right ingredients.... I think the best part of this recipe is how wonderfully seasoned the chicken comes out. For extra simplicity you can just buy adobo seasoning at the store so that you don't need to make your own. 

You can also play around a little with the sofrito. Sofritos are essential in Latin America, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese cooking. A Sofrito contains onion, garlic, pepper and tomato sautéed in olive oil. In this recipe I didn't have tomato sauce so I simply pureed some Ro-Tel tomatoes instead.

Arroz con Pollo has many variations. Spanish style has a more moderately seasoned chicken and uses saffron to season and color the rice. It has a more delicate taste and reminds me more of Paella. In Puerto Rico they use annatto oil to color this dish. I've never seen annatto oil... so I just used turmeric. This is the first time I've made the Puerto Rican version of this dish and I must say that it felt more hearty and spicy than the Spanish version and will definitely be a family favorite. There is some question about which culture made this dish first...but the truth is that most cultures have some form of chicken and rice...and this recipe is a keeper!