Connie’s notes
First Christmas during the pandemic. Sourcing ingredients was a challenge; sourcing ingredients for traditional Christmas dishes was a headache.
Instead of insisting on cooking dishes that are considered “special occasion” food, I had to re-define just what “special occasion” meant. In December of 2020, with every member of the family COVID-free (and, yes, we all managed to stay that way), every day was special so every meal was a special occasion dish.
Why chicken wings?
Chicken wings are smaller, especially if the flat wing (wingette) is separated from the drumette. They will cook at the same time as the rice. Whereas, if you use larger cuts like drumsticks and thighs, the rice grains might be overcooked to sogginess before the chicken meat is cooked through.The mushroom
We used shimeji because that was what we were able to source at the time. You may use just about any mushroom variety that you like. Button mushrooms, portobello, eryngii…The rice
If you’ve been to Vietnam and you’ve enjoyed a plate of broken rice, you might notice that the rice grains in the photo above look like broken rice. That’s what it is. Like I said, in 2020, we weren’t in a position to be too choosy about ingredients. We made do with what was available. What is broken rice? Well, they are pieces of grains that broke either during drying, milling or transport. They are not nutritionally deficient. They contain as much nutrients as whole grain rice. They just don’t look pretty. Obviously, there is no reason to use broken rice if you have whole grain rice. You may opt for medium-grain rice or long-grain rice. Medium-grain rice generally contains more surface starch so the cooked dish will be stickier. If you use long-grain rice, the result will closer to traditional pilaf / pilau.The cooking liquid
It’s broth. Water would have been okay since we used bone-in chicken but it was Christmas! Why not double the richness? Broth is good but cook bone-in chicken in it and it gets a serious upgrade. Now that upgrade is what the rice cooks in. So, choose broth over plain water.Ingredients
- 1 kilogram chicken wings (2.2 pounds) cut into drumette and wingette; wing tips set aside for future use
- 2 tablespoons lemon pepper seasoning (store bought)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ cup chopped bell peppers
- ¼ cup chopped carrot
- ¼ cup thinly sliced celery
- 250 grams fresh shimeji (8.8 oz) or use button mushrooms
- salt
- pepper
- 1 cup rice
- 1 ½ cups chicken bone broth
- chopped parsley to garnish
- lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Wipe the chicken dry with paper towels.
- Place the chicken in a bowl, add the lemon pepper seasoning and mix well.
- Cover the bowl and marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least three hours.
- In a heavy frying pan, heat the olive oil and butter.
- Lay the chicken pieces in the oil, skin side down, and brown all sides, turning the pieces over for even cooking. Scoop out the chicken and set aside.
- In the remaining oil, saute the onion, garlic, carrot, bell pepper and celery for a minute.
- Add the mushrooms, sprinkle in half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring, until the mushrooms start to soften.
- Pour in the rice and stir to coat every grain with oil.
- Pour in the broth and stir. Taste. If the broth is unseasoned or underseasoned, you will likely need to add a bit of salt and pepper.
- Scatter the browned chicken on top of the rice and vegetables.
- Turn the heat down to LOW, cover the pan and let everything cook together until the rice has soaked up the broth and the chicken is cooked through.
- Sprinkle chopped parsley over the chicken mushroom rice casserole before serving with lemon wedges on the side.
Cajun-style jambalaya
