A lazy Meditteranean day - and a recipe

.............for a lazy Meditteranean Chicken Pilaff!

Edit: Photos are courtesy of Tams, who made this and kindly sent me photos before and after the oven cooking bit - just like sunshine on a plate!!:

Lazy Mediterranean Chicken Pilaff

6 chicken breasts - preferably skin on
5 tbsp lemon juice (ie. juice of 2 lemons)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried mixed herbs or Herbes de Provence
salt and pepper
1 small onion, chopped
4 oz sliced mushrooms
1 red or yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 oz sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
18 small black olives
9 oz basmati rice, rinsed and dried
1 and a half pints (Imperial = 30 fluid oz, or 845 ml) boiling chicken stock


In a large bowl combine lemon juice with garlic, dried herbs and pepper and salt to taste. Add the chicken breasts and toss well to coat. Cover the bowl with kitchen film and marinate for 2 hours at room temperature or up to 24 hours in the fridge. Toss the meat occasionally.


Preheat oven to 400F/200C/mark 6. Grease a shallow ovenproof dish and scatter the chopped onion over the bottom. Cover this with the sliced mushrooms, chopped pepper, tomatoes and olives, and then the rice.

Remove the chicken from the marinade (keep marinade!) and heat the oil in a large, preferably non-stick frying pan - working in batches if necessary - over a low-medium heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until the chicken is lightly browned.

Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer, skin side up, over the rice. Pour over any remaining marinade and the stock. Place in oven uncovered and leave undisturbed for about one hour or until the chicken is cooked and all the stock has been absorbed. Serve with a green salad.

OK, so I brought a photocopy of the recipe (in case the Spanish sun addled my brain even more than it is already) BUT, if you Google it then there are some very similar versions on the web so I did a big 'copy and paste' then tweaked it :)

My observations, for what they're worth, are - the amount of rice base is really more suited to four people and for ease I just make the full amount of the marinade for us two.Ooops, and I also make the full amount of rice base just 'cos it's easier and someone here loves this dish! It truly is like sunshine on a plate as I said above the photos - even back home we love it although a sunny evening does make it a bit more special. Or a Sunday lunchtime in the garden with family and friends round.

I couldn't find chicken breasts here with the skin one - how odd is that - but skinless ones worked just fine and didn't dry out and I didn't need to cover them at all with foil, which was my concern. The crispy skins do add to the dish though....apologies to any veggies, and of course BIG apologies to Margot and Harriet, Sandra's gorgeous chickens!!!

A mixed leaves salad goes just great with this dish - and garlic bread if you want to be a bit piggy :) The flat, stone baked garlic bread is the best I think.
 
So, that's almost the end of a lovely, and very relaxing holiday. We fly home late tomorrow so might well have time to go early to watch the fishing boats unload their catch in the harbour area in the morning. But, the best laid plans and all that........so this is a last image from here:

Now, why is there a gap there betwen the two boats - waiting for that wreck to be parked perhaps?

Think of us tomorrow - we flew BA and breakfast coming out was a cheese straw and coffee basically! Guess who'll be having a jolly good lunch before we pack ready to leave tomorrow.

Di
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