Chicken and Rice. Don't Judge the Simplicity, Man.
I know I promised you my homemade chicken feed recipe today, but I'm not in the mood for it. I'm in the mood for chicken and rice.
A few weeks ago, when we visited our friends in Macon, we arrived after a painfully long and grueling journey to a dinner of chicken and rice. And raw milk.
I can't remember ever feeling so satisfied.
Why?
Was it in the simplicity?
The ease?
The soul-reviving properties that only chicken can bring?
I still don't know. What I do know is that since that meal at Alex and Lauren's, I've made this dish approximately seventy times. I can't help myself. It brings me inner carnivore, grain-eating peace.
I know, I know. It's a super plain-Jane recipe. There is no POP. No pizazz. No fireworks.
But I'm okay with that sometimes. Sometimes, I don't want paprika and cumin. Sometimes, I want simplicity. I want plain-Jane. I want butter. And salt. And the basics of meat and grains.
Naturally, I serve it alongside some delicious summer vegetables, such as roasted asparagus. So fantastic and easy.
After all the long days we've been putting in on the Beatha Fonn (did you hear about our new farm's name?), a large meal like this has been really popular with the farm hands (that is, Georgia, Stuart, and my father-in-law). Isn't there a saying about that? Feeding your farm hands well?
Regardless, it's still fantastic. I hope you can enjoy the spectacular minimalism of this dish as much as I do.
Chicken and Rice
Ingredients:
1 whole roasted chicken
1 ½ cups organic rice (I have used basmati, jasmine, and short-grain brown with great results)
½ cup organic lentils
4 ½ cups homemade chicken stock (or water)
Fresh herbs
Sea salt and pepper
High-quality butter
Roast (like this) or boil the chicken (such as when making stock) until the chicken is cooked through. Remove to a plate and let cool. I've found one of the easiest ways to cook the chicken is simply to throw it into a stock pot with about eight cups of water for a few hours.
Shred the chicken from the bones. You'll be left with a large plate of succulent chicken. Try not to eat too much while you complete the next steps.
In a large saucepan or rice cooker, combine the rice, lentils, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about thirty minutes.
In a large saucepan or rice cooker, combine the rice, lentils, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about thirty minutes.
Sprinkle the chicken and rice generously with freshly chopped herbs (such as rosemary, thyme, basil, tarragon, and parsley). Then, give it a generous (GENEROUS, I SAY!) dollop of butter. Like a quarter-cup or so. Lastly, sprinkle it with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
