Cooking In, Quick PostKerry Alaric CheeseboroJanuary 22, 2014basil, broth, butter, chicken, Cooking In, drumstick, drumsticks, garlic, herbs, onion, paprika, Quick Post, rice, skillet, slow-cooked, smoked paprika, stock, thigh, thighs, thyme, yellow riceComment

Having A Good Skill(et) Set

SKILLET CHICKEN & RICE | Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks Cooked in Skillet with Yellow Rice, Smoked Paprika, Thyme, Basil

THE RECENT ITERATIONS OF WHAT we've come to start calling the "polar vortex"—formerly, "winter"—would of course put many of us in the mood for warm, comforting dishes. I decided to counter the chilly temps on a busy work day with a one vessel meal that I could put together in a mere hour.

And so it was that—yes, in a skillet—I seared off some chicken thighs and drumsticks to a light brown on the skin and then temporarily removed them as to stir in some uncooked rice in the chicken skin's rendered fat. Once nicely coated I added some turmeric, mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and dried thyme and basil (I was not going out into that cold to get fresh produce), adding some stock, and putting the chicken back in the skillet with the rice, broth, and seasoning before covering it with a lid and letting it cook over a low flame for a little over 30 minutes.

The chicken cooked just long enough to be fall-off-the-bone tender while retaining all of its juiciness, and the rice cooked just long enough to be just passed al dente while—like in most well-executed paellas—frying in the bottom of the skillet to deep golden brown crispy perfection. (those deliciously-browned bits of rice is called the soccarat!)

It's the kind of dish whose flavors evoke a variety of nostalgia of meals past, filling my whole apartment with the aromas of decades of family dinners for hours, while providing enough food to last for another day or two for just a handful of money.

Even during a polar vortex, this is the type of dish I can always "chill" with.