chicken & rice

Mimi's Chicken & Rice is hands down my father, Mark's, number one childhood comfort food. There was only one problem: there was no recipe, and I have no memory of having this legendary meal.

After hearing his praise for decades, I began making this dish a little over ten years ago, experimenting with different vegetables, aromatics, rice types, chicken cuts, and cooking methods. When I told my dad my most recent innovations and mentioned that Desmond who "wasn't hungry" went back for seconds and thirds, he was impressed. While Mimi didn't make it like this, I'm positive she would have loved it.

It is more complex, healthy and flexible than the original. The addition of more vegetables, herbs and aromatics, as well as the convenience of using frozen chicken, enriches and enlivens this classic weeknight meal.

tags: easy, Instant Pot, pressure cooker, comfort food, chicken, frozen chicken, one-pot meals, 60 minutes

Chicken & Rice
Serves 4-6
60 minutes all in

Ingredients

1 or 2 packs of portioned, frozen boneless chicken thighs or breasts (partial to Costco's offerings)
4 carrots of similar size
2-3 ribs of celery, preferably celery with leaves*
1 large, 1.5 medium, or 2 small white or yellow onions
1.5 cups rinsed basmati rice
2.25 cups of water, chicken stock/broth, or a combination of either of those with a cup of white wine and/or juice of 1 lemon) so that the total liquid is 2.25-2.5 cups and no more
2 lemons
handful of parsley
optional: dill, scallion, chives or combination
1 cup frozen sweet green peas, thawed in boiling water
3-5 cloves of peeled and crushed fresh garlic
1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon of dried thyme
1/2 tablespoon of coriander seed roughly crushed in mortar and pestle
1 tablespoon minced lemon zest
2-3 tablespoons of butter (Kerrygold is a favorite, salted or unsalted is fine)

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Vinegar-based hot sauce, like Texas Pete's

*if you have celery leaves, please roughly chop up to a tablespoon of them and add them to the vegetables

Directions

To prep frozen chicken in thick plastic: Use a bowl or sinkful of very warm water and submerge frozen packs of chicken until you can cut open the bag easily (this shouldn't take more than 10 minutes)
Place frozen chicken on rack in the Instant Pot and add about an inch of water in the pot to steam the chicken. Set timer to 9 minutes at full pressure and seal.
To prep rice: add rice to fine strainer/sieve, and rinse under cold water until water runs clear. This rinses the excess starch from the rice so you will have less of a glutinous/gummy end product.
To prep vegetables: peel the carrots (or not, their skin is highly nutritious), cut end pieces, and slice (on the bias is always visually prettier) so that each slice has roughly the same amount of carrot. (It's important to have similar ingredients as close in size as possible to ensure an even cook.) Cut the celery similarly to the carrots, and if you have celery leaf, chop roughly. Peel and slice the onions in a uniform matter to your liking. Peel and press garlic.
To zest the lemon: do your best to peel (a vegetable peeler will work) or slice off the rind of one lemon with a paring knife. Then dice as finely as your patience allows, and add a tablespoon of it to the chopped vegetables.
Check on the chicken in the Instant Pot. The chicken will be cooked on the outside, and either raw in the middle (especially if it's a huddled mass of chicken thighs) or nearly cooked (if using breasts). If you are using thighs, chop the meat into roughly bite-sized pieces. If you are using breast, and it's at least 90% cooked through, shred as much as you can.
In a medium or large size Dutch oven or stock pot, add your rice, vegetables (not time for the green peas yet though), aromatics (dried herbs/spices/zest/garlic), salt, any uncooked chicken pieces, and liquid mix. Regarding this liquid, if you do not have chicken broth/stock, you are welcome to use the water that poached the chicken. If you do have broth/stock, use that. I like to add wine and fresh lemon juice to the stock so that the total volume is the exact amount of water the rice needs, but this choice is optional.
Add butter. At this point, everything is in the pot/Dutch oven but one lemon, the fresh herbs, and whatever pieces of chicken are cooked through.
Bring the pot to a boil, then very carefully place a clean thin kitchen towel between the pot and the lid and wrap around the top. See picture. If you're unlucky/not careful, the towel can catch fire, so be aware of this! This step is enormously important in order to prevent steam from escaping.
Pour boiling water over frozen green peas so that they're covered.
Chop fresh herbs. Slice remaining lemon into wedges.
Set heat to low and set timer for 15 minutes. After that time has elapsed, check rice and vegetables for doneness. If rice has any hardness, reset timer for 5 minutes and add the cooked chicken on top without mixing into the rice mixture. Cover the pot with the toweled lid. If the rice is cooked, go a ahead and add the chicken and set a timer for three minutes.
Add peas and chopped herbs to the dish, season to taste with salt and pepper, and garnish with lemon wedges. Add hot sauce if you like.

tags: easy, Instant Pot, pressure cooker, comfort food, chicken, frozen chicken, one-pot meals, 60 minutes