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Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice

Difference (from prior minor revision)

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< When the chicken is done, you can remove it from the po and let it rest for ten minutes. Carryover cooking will raise the temperature of the chicken past the safety point of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. While the chicken is resting, scoop out the rice and scrape out the tasty ''pegao!''

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> When the chicken is done, you can remove it from the pot and let it rest for ten minutes. Carryover cooking will raise the temperature of the chicken past the safety point of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. While the chicken is resting, scoop out the rice and scrape out the tasty ''pegao!''


Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice dutch oven rice 02

YouTube:

(Also: BBQ Chicken and Rice)

This is one of the easiest recipes for roasting chicken that you can make: all it requires is chicken (duh), white rice, and a cast iron dutch oven. When I posted this one to the Cast Iron Cooking group on Facebook, everyone began asking for the recipe. It's one of the most popular dishes on there, along with being one of the simplest.

Pans needed: cast iron dutch oven with lid

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl or dish, prepare your spice rub.

This recipe works especially well in a large dutch oven. While this dish will fit into a #8 or 5-quart oven, I think the extra space of the #10 size (12-inch) helps to provide more room to properly steam (braise) the chicken, so it isn't cooked to the point where it splits apart.

In your cast iron dutch oven, add 2 cups of rice, 3 and 1/2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce plus 1/4 cup soy sauce for flavor. Stir a little to evenly distribute the rice in the liquid. It will look as though there is far too much liquid in the pot – the rice will be completely covered in liquid. This is correct: the rice will absorb the liquid as it cooks.

Remove all accessories from the chicken (giblet bag, etc.). Rinse off the chicken, and pat it dry with paper towels. The chicken does not have to be bone-dry; just dry enough so that it doesn't soak your hands when you handle it.

It's not necessary to stuff the chicken, but if you want to do so: cut the potato and onion into halves, and stuff the chicken. If you want to use other chicken stuffing, you can do so. Simply make sure the chicken is only loosely stuffed, not packed tight.

Apply spice rub to entire outside of the chicken. Place the chicken into the pot, on top of the rice. Cover dutch oven with an iron lid. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 90 minutes. Optionally, you can remove the lid after 75 minutes and let it roast for the final 15 minutes uncovered. This will help brown the chicken and give the rice a crust on top. The chicken will be fall-off-the-bone tender, and the rice will have absorbed the liquid.

(For poultry over 6 pounds, add an additional 15 minutes per pound.)

Here's a hint regarding the rice: when you cook rice in a cast iron pan using this method, a crust of brown, hardened rice will cover the sides and bottom of the pot. This is not burned rice – don't throw this out. Scrape the crust off the bottom of the pot and eat it! This is a tasty treat, and it is very popular in most areas of the world. In Latin America, the hardened rice crust is called pegao, while in Persia it is called tadig.

A YouTube video on the making of this dish: BBQ Chicken and Rice

What's more, you don't need a whole chicken to make this dish. It works fine with chicken pieces.

chicken-and-rice.jpg

A Simple and Tasty Chicken Spice Rub


Roast Chicken and Rice

Roast Chicken and Rice: Dutch Oven Chicken And Rice 2.0

The recipe at the top of this page was one of the first recipes I learned when I started cooking in cast iron, and I've lost count of the number of times I've made this dish. For several years, my method was very simple: add rice and water to a cast iron dutch oven, flavor the rice. Coat the chicken with rub, place it in the pot on top of the rice. Cover the pot and bake it at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 90 minutes. This will certainly produce a very tasty chicken, and the rice is to die for. Lately I'd noticed that while the chicken in the original recipe is quite good, it doesn't have crisp skin and it can be overcooked. Braising a chicken in a closed pot doesn't allow for temperature control. So, I've added an additional step to this recipe: add a cooking thermometer. It takes a little longer to cook the chicken using this method, but the extra time is definitely worth it. This recipe will roast a large roaster chicken in just under two hours' time.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl or dish, prepare your spice rub. for the rice, the chicken, or both. It depends on what you feel like adding to the chicken and rice. Lately I've been using the spice blend seen in this recipe for Arroz con Gandules to give the rice a reddish color and wonderful flavor.

In your cast iron dutch oven, add 2 cups of rice, and your seasonings and/or sauce to flavor the rice. Add 3 and 1/2 cups water, and stir a little to evenly distribute the rice in the liquid.

Remove all accessories from the chicken (giblet bag, etc.). Rinse off the chicken, and pat it dry with paper towels. The chicken does not have to be bone-dry; just dry enough so that it doesn't soak your hands when you handle it.

Apply spice rub to the entire outside of the chicken. Place the chicken into the pot breast side down, on top of the rice. Cover dutch oven with an iron lid. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 minutes.

After 60 minutes, remove the pot from the oven and place it on a trivet. Remove the lid. Using kitchen tools, lift the chicken out of the pot and turn it over, and place it back into the pot breast side up. Insert a probe thermometer into the breast, and place it back in the oven. Roast the chicken uncovered, still at 375 degrees Fahrenheit, until the temperature reaches 163 degrees Fahrenheit. Braising the chicken in a covered pot for an hour cooks the outside of the chicken but doesn't finish cooking the inside. So, by putting it in breast side down, we completely cook the dark meat. Then we flip it over and finish cooking the white meat.

When the chicken is done, you can remove it from the pot and let it rest for ten minutes. Carryover cooking will raise the temperature of the chicken past the safety point of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. While the chicken is resting, scoop out the rice and scrape out the tasty pegao!

Serve!

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