January 5, 2021

Chicken & Rice pilaf/perloo/pilau

A few years back, I went on a college visiting trip with my younger one (hard to believe he is actually graduating from college this spring). We started in Charleston, SC and moved south to Savannah, GA and ended up in St. Augustine, FL. Ok, ok…not all of it was focused on college visits, we also took some time to vacation.

It was my first time in that area of the South and it came with a learning curve as far as food is concerned. We learned about Gullah-Geechee, about the rich culinary traditions of the local people and we discovered a deep history rarely talked about. Reading about the food and culture, I came across the unofficial ambassador of Gullah-Geechee cuisine, Chef Benjamin Dennis. It was eye-opening to read what he has to say on the subject. You can catch a glimpse here.

We were told that Nana’s Soul Food was the place to go to for amazing food and off we went. We got there and clearly could not help ourselves. We ordered way more than we could have eaten and hoarded it back to our hotel (where the antisocial me checked in online, bypassing the front desk and going straight up to our room). We lined up all the containers, we dug in with gusto, holding food with our fingers (no fork needed) and sauce dripping on our chins. At that exact moment, the door clicked open and the hotel manager showed up; he wanted to extent his very southern hospitality and make sure we got all we needed. Embarrassing!!!!

Long story short, the perloo that I had that day reminded me of my childhood’s pilaf a little bit and here is my interpretation of it. This is more pilaf than perloo, but I take a bite and think back on that wonderful trip.

Chicken Pilaf

Serving Size:

6-8

Time:

1 hour 30 min

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (you can use chicken legs or thighs)
1 large onion, diced
3 celery sticks, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 parsnip, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 thick slice of celery root, diced (yes, there is a lot of dicing – you could use a food processor to shred them, I just like the texture of a large dice)
300 gr. long grain rice, very well rinsed
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
900 ml. of hot water
Salt & pepper (for this dish, I like to keep some peppercorns whole, I feel it adds to the dish; feel free to skip it)

Directions

Over high heat, melt some butter in the pan along with the olive oil. Add the lightly salted chicken pieces to the pan and brown well. You want good color on all sides.
Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm. Remove most of the fat accumulated in the pan (the chicken skin will shed a lot of fat). Add the diced veggies (onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, celery root & parsnip), the salt & pepper. Cook and stir for about 10 min over medium heat; you want the veggies soft but not mushy.
When the veggies have cooked down, add the rinsed rice to the pan. Cook and stir for about 2-3 min, until the rice absorbs some moisture. Turn the heat down to low.
Even out the mixture in the pan with the spoon and working quickly add the browned chicken along with any juices left on the plate and pour the hot water over everything. Cover tightly with the lid and cook (on the lowest setting of your stove) for 15 min. Turn the heat off and let it rest for another 10 min undisturbed. Don’t peek!!! The steam will be released too early and you’ll lose the juiciness of the chicken.
You can now remove the lid, fluff the rice and serve. It’s a one pot meal that’s incredibly versatile: you can add any veggie (zucchini, peas, corn, anything you have in the fridge) or add sausage – sky’s the limit. Make it your own.