Cuban-Spiced Chicken Thighs with Chrizo and Rice

Marinade:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro stems
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 teaspoons chopped seeded jalapeño chile

2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika (Chef used regular paprika)

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

10 chicken thighs with skin and bone (about 4 1/2 pounds)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound fully cooked Spanish chorizo or Portuguese linquiça sausage links, cut into 1/4-inch thick rounds (Chef used Hot Italian Sausage, as Camrose was suffering from a chorizo shortage)

2 cups finely chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups arborio rice

2 1/2 cups of low-salt chicken broth

2 medium tomatoes (CJ had 3 roma tomatoes), diced

2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon saffron threads

1 canned piquillo pepper or 1 whole canned pimiento, cut into thin strips (Chef was only able to obtain some jarred, sliced pimento).

Garnish:

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

Lime wedges

***

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was trying to find another one of my Cuban dishes. And what better way to celebrate May Day than by preparing the marinade. All this followed up by cooking up the chicken while enjoying a Cuba Libre, watching the Flyers host the Bruins, playing a little "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and watching the Canadian election results (yawn!).

I have a few notes that I'd like to share:

- I used my cherry red 6.7 L enameled cast iron le creuset pot to make this bad boy, and I'd recommend a larger vessel: There was just a little too much crowding for the chicken, and this left the chicken a little undercooked, which I had to compensate for by cooking the complete dish for about 20 or 30 minutes longer than the recipe suggested. Unfortunately, this resulted in my adding a little more broth than required which led to the rice being too mushy.

- Make sure you get that chicken brown! You really need to get some colour onto those thighs!

- Pour out more of the oil/fat than the recipe suggests. Too greasy/oily of a dish.

- That saffron is damn expensive. But is smells good and added to a gentle, smoky flavour to the dish.

- Make sure you have a 2nd Cuba Libre while you enjoy your meal...

Here is my dish: two chicken thighs along with some rice.

This was my second time cooking the dish: the first time had been early in 2007. I was still a little disappointed with it: I think a bigger pot or even halving the recipe is warranted.

The grade: 5.9 out of 10.0