Recipe | I Can Cook That (2024)

I love cookbooks with contributions from different chefs. It adds variety to the cookbook and recipes within it. I always end up having such trouble choosing what recipe to make from a collaborative cookbook because each and every recipe sounds so tasty! Although one recipe in this specific cookbook did stand out to me: Arroz con Pollo.

Forty world class chefs have collaborated on a new cookbook, UNICHEF, to benefit the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the Children’s Rights and Emergency Relief Organization. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in 190 countries and territories worldwide to save and improve children’s lives by providing health care and immunizations, clean water, sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and more.

Each chef complements their recipe contribution with accompanying text sharing his or her personal relationship to food in formative years and the genesis of their life’s work. This cookbook contains recipes and stories from Marcus Samuelsson, Wolfgang Puck, Cat Cora, Jamie Oliver, Mario Batali, Michael Solomonov, and many others.

This recipe, contributed by Chef Ingrid Hoffmann, is a great Sunday meal. It takes a bit of time but makes a ton of food and has really amazing flavor. I adapted the recipe slightly but it’s mostly intact.

Chef Ingrid Hoffmann’s Arroz con Pollo

From Unichef: Top Chefs Unite in Support of the World’s Children by Hilary Gumbel copyright © 2014,published by Glitterati Incorporated/www.GlitteratiIncorporated.com

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2-3 pounds chicken breasts and thighs
• 1 medium yellow onion, quartered, plus ½ yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup homemade or canned low-sodium chicken broth (240 ml)
• 1 cup beer (240 ml) (such as lager – I used Yuengling)
• 3 tablespoons Delicioso Adobo (20 g) (recipe below)
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (45 ml)
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves (16 g)
• 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 cups uncooked white rice (370 g)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen green peas (120 g)
• 2 medium carrots, finely diced
• 8 ounces green beans (240 g), trimmed and quartered
• 1 cup ketchup (240 g)
• 1 teaspoon salt (5 ml)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (42 g)
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 cup pimiento-stuffed olives (230 g)

Delicioso Adobo (yields ~1/2 cup)

• 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning (15 ml)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (15 ml)
• 1 tablespoon onion powder or flakes (15 ml)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano (15 ml)
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes (15 ml)
• 1 ½ teaspoon ground paprika (7 ml)
• 1 ½ teaspoon ground turmeric (7 ml)
• 1 ½ teaspoons grousnd cumin (7 ml)
• 1 tablespoon salt (15 ml)

First make the Delicioso Adobo. Combine all ingredients in a small mason jar, and shake to combine. The mixture can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks.

Add the chicken pieces, quartered onion, 1 cup chicken broth, beer, 3 tablespoons Delicioso Adobo, Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, and garlic in a large saute pan or Dutch oven over high heat.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low.

Cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes.

Remove the chicken pieces and set aside to cool. Strain the broth mixture through a fine-mesh sieve a large measuring cup (at least 4 cups) and discard the onion pieces.

Add water to the broth mixture to make 4 cups of liquid. Return the mixture back to the pot and add the rice, peas, carrots, green beans, ketchup, and salt.

Stir well and bring to a boil.

Cook for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook until the rice is tender and fully cooked, about 25 minutes.

While waiting for the rice to cook, melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the peppers and sliced onion. Cook for 8 minutes or until tender.

Shred the cooked chicken meat, discarding the skin and bones.

Add the chicken to the vegetables. Cook until heated through, about 2-3 minutes.

Fluff the rice with a fork and add the chicken and vegetables to the rice mixture.

Stir in olives, stir in remaining cilantro, and serve.

I love all of the vegetables in this recipe. Each brings its own flavor that makes for a really balanced dish!

This recipe also reheats well, so we will be able to enjoy it for lunch later in the week!