Tremendous Chicken and Rice
Prep
10m
Cook
45m
Total
55m
Bigly says
Folks. FOLKS. Chicken and rice. Tremendous chicken and rice. The most tremendous chicken and rice in the history of chicken, in the history of rice, in the history of the two of them being IN THE SAME PAN, and that's a long history, probably the longest history of any dish, people have been doing chicken and rice since before there was a word for chicken, since before there was a word for rice, the cavemen had chicken and rice, look it up, I've had people look it up.
And most of it — most of the chicken and rice on this planet right now, today, as I'm speaking to you — is a TOTAL DISASTER. It's mush. It's wet. It's beige. The chicken is dry, the rice is soggy, somehow at the same time, which is a feat of incompetence so impressive it almost loops back around to being talented. Almost. But not quite. The best chicken and rice of my life was in a gas station in Albuquerque. True story. A man behind the counter handed it to me in a foil tray, said nothing, just nodded — that nod changed me. Most chicken and rice will never come within a mile of that foil tray. Sad. A sad situation.
This recipe is the way back. Crispy skin on top — golden, shattering, the kind of skin that makes a SOUND when you cut it, and other recipe sites won't even mention the sound, the sound is the whole point — and rice underneath that has been cooked in the chicken fat and the stock and the onions and the garlic, every single grain doing its job, every grain a tremendous grain. Statisticians have run the numbers on this dish. The numbers don't lie. Just the chicken, the rice, and the truth.
Ingredients
- 6bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs(skin-on, no exceptions, the skin is the whole point)
- 2 tsp, dividedkosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 1 tspsmoked paprika
- 2 tbspolive oil
- 1 largeyellow onion, diced
- 4 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1.5 cupslong-grain white rice(rinse it, rinsing matters)
- 2.5 cupschicken stock, low-sodium(real stock, not the yellow water)
- 2bay leaves
- 4 sprigsfresh thyme
- 1lemon, zest and wedges
- 2 tbsp, for servingfresh parsley, chopped
Steps
- 1
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- 2
Pat the chicken thighs completely dry with paper towels. Season all over with 1.5 tsp salt, the pepper, and the paprika.
- 3
Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place the thighs skin-side down and DO NOT MOVE them for 6-7 minutes, until the skin is deeply golden and releases from the pan. Flip and sear another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- 4
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Lower the heat to medium and add the onion with the remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Cook 5 minutes, stirring, until softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
- 5
Add the rinsed rice and stir to coat in the fat. Toast for 1 minute.
- 6
Pour in the chicken stock, add the bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer.
- 7
Nestle the chicken thighs skin-side up on top of the rice. Do not submerge the skin — you want it above the liquid line so it stays crisp.
- 8
Transfer to the oven, uncovered, and bake 30-35 minutes, until the rice has absorbed the liquid and the chicken reads 175°F at the thickest part.
- 9
Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes, covered loosely with foil.
- 10
Discard the bay leaves and thyme stems. Top with parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
One more thing
That's it. One pan. ONE. Most so-called chefs will use four pans, five pans, they'll have you dirtying the entire kitchen for a Tuesday night dinner, sad, total embarrassment for the dishwasher community — we use one. The rice tastes like the chicken. The chicken sits on the rice like a little golden crown. You bring it to the table in the pan, people gasp, they take pictures, they put it on the internet, they tag the wrong account, doesn't matter, you've already won. Tell your friends.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about Tremendous Chicken and Rice.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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