This rice pilaf with chicken and ground beef, seasoned with the staple Mediterranean spices, is a staple recipe that is served on Christmas and special occasions. It is topped with roasted nuts, and usually served with tabbouleh, rolled grape leaves, and the many other Mediterranean side dishes.
Ingredients:
- Rice and beef
- Ground beef
- Crushed garlic
- Long grain rice
- Red onion, roughly diced
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Bay leaf
- Allspice
- Nutmeg
- White pepper
- Cardamom pods
- Chicken broth
- Dried parsley flakes
- Chicken
- Chicken thighs
- Olive oil
- Rotisserie chicken seasoning
- Garnish
- Roasted almonds
- Roasted pine nuts
- Roasted cashews
- Roasted pistachios
- Diced green onions for garnish
Utensils
- Wooden spoon
- Medium heavy bottom pot
- Fine sieve
- Baking sheet with a drip rack
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Paper towels
- Mortar and pestle or coffee grinder
This recipe brings back so many memories especially Christmas time at my grandparent’s house. My grandmother used to always make this recipe served alongside a roasted turkey.
Everything smelled so heavenly especially the smell of the freshly roasted almonds. Christmas time was and still is my favorite, and talking about this recipe makes it just that more special.
I so miss my grandmother, I miss her cooking, I miss being with them and just simply seeing them. I hold dearly the things that remind me of them, and this recipe is one of those things that remind me of them.
The Mediterranean Tradition
Traditionally, this recipe is prepared a little bit differently. The chicken is usually fried in a little bit of oil, skin and all, for a short time. What this does, is that it removes all the weird smells that chicken sometimes tend to have when you boil it directly. It also adds a nice flavor to the chicken. Then it is boiled along with all the spices until it is fully cooked.
The broth
The broth from the chicken is then used to flavor the rice and beef. This gives you top notch broth which then gives the meal an extremely delicious taste.
However, I am deviating a little bit from tradition because my family and I do not like boiled chicken. Besides, this way, instead of cooking the chicken, waiting for the broth, and then cooking the rice, this method allows you to cook everything at the same time.
Homemade Broth
However, if you want the flavor that the broth gives you, but you do not want to wait forever for everything to be done, you can prepare this broth ahead of time using any leftover chicken bone that you have on hand.
Make sure to season it with the same spices used for this dish. Set the broth in the fridge, or freezer until you are ready to use it. Then, when it is time, set it out of the fridge, warm it up, and it is ready to be used. This broth will enhance any Mediterranean dish that you are trying to make.
Preparing the chicken
If you decide to bake the chicken instead of boiling it, pat it dry, drizzle it with a little bit of olive oil, cover it with rotisserie chicken seasoning or any seasoning that you like, place it in a pan with a drip rack while making sure to have space between the thighs to allow air to pass between them, and finally place the entire pan with no covering into the fridge for 20 minutes.
Why chill the chicken?
The chilling process allows the chicken to dry out a little more. If you have skin on the chicken thighs that you chose, this will give you crispy chicken thighs.
Also, as the chicken is chilling, it is getting marinated in all these delicious flavors, and getting tenderized by the salt that is present in the seasoning.
Baking the chicken
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake the chicken on the middle rack for 30 to 40 minutes, or however long it takes to be fully cooked. If you have smaller chicken thighs, check on them before the 30 minutes are over. I just poke a fork through them, and if I see blood coming out, or pink peeking through, I keep them in for a little longer.
You can check on them every 5 to 10 minutes after the 30 minutes are over to make sure they don’t overbake because they will dry out.
The spices
Cinnamon, and seven spices are used in almost every Mediterranean dish, but since it is so hard to get your hands on seven spices, we will try to replicate this spice with a whole bunch of different spices.
Seven spices, is literally made from 7 different spices. Some of these spices are mentioned above, but adding all the different spices individually into this recipe can be a bit tricky, and can result in a very strong taste.
Unless you are seasoning directly from a seven-spice blend, you are better off not using the same spices as they can be very potent even in small quantities.
Dicing the onions
Roughly dice the onions. Larger pieces give this dish a better taste. Red onions are not as sweet as yellow onions. I find them to be a better choice for this dish.
Crushing the garlic
I like to crush the garlic using a mortar and pestle. I find the crushing action enhances the flavor of the garlic because it releases all these oils that are present in the garlic making it more aromatic.
If you do not have a mortar and pestle, you can crush the garlic using the large blade, or the back end of a knife. Give it a few chops after that, and you are good to go.
Grounding the cardamom
Unless you have pre-ground cardamom, which I find very difficult to get your hands on, you can use whole cardamom. But, since we do not want to be eating cardamom shells, and God forbid someone chocks on these hazardous pods, we will instead do something that’s a little bit different.
What you will need to do first is to shell the cardamom pods. Simply squeeze the shell between your fingers. This will allow the cardamom pod to open. Inside, you will see a bunch of little seeds. Place those seeds into a mortar, or a coffee grinder, and grind them until they are somewhat fine in texture.
Browning the ground beef
Place the ground beef, onions, and garlic in the same pot, and brown everything on medium to high heat. Give it a quick stir every now and then.
Browning all these ingredients together will allow the flavors from the garlic and onions to infuse in with the ground beef. This way, you will also eliminate the need for using oil to sauté the onions and garlic making the dish a bit healthier.
If you are using high fat ground beef, you can drain some of the rendered fat out using a fine sieve. Just make sure to leave some of the fat to cook the rice in.
Stir-frying the rice
The first thing you’ll need to do, is of course rinse the rice a few times and allow it to drain. I like to stir fry the rice on medium heat in with the ground beef after it has been browned.
In fact, whenever I am using any sort of fat with the rice, I always stir fry the rice in it for a few minutes. This gives the rice a rich deep flavor eliminating that greasy feeling from the fat and that bland flavor that rice tends to have.
You’ll want to stir the rice every now and then to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Just make sure to add in the seasoning as soon as you add in the rice. The only seasoning that you should not add at this stage is the bay leaf. I like to keep that on top so that it is easy to fish it out when the food is ready to be eaten.
Cooking the rice and beef
To cook the rice and beef, you’ll need to add in the chicken broth. I can’t tell you exactly how much chicken broth to add because it all depends on what type of rice you are using.
For example, jasmine rice requires one and a half cup of broth per one cup of rice, while other long grain rice may require two cups of broth per one cup of rice. Check the package direction for the type of rice that you are using.
Make sure to also check the cooking time, and whether you need to use boiling liquid or room temperature liquid. Also check to see if the rice requires presoaking before cooking it. This is also the time where you’ll want to add in the bay leaf. Just put it right on top of the rice.
Shredding the chicken
You don’t necessarily have to do this step, but it sure makes the presentation a lot prettier. I also believe that they did this in the past to save on the amount of meat that is being used since meat was not as available as it is these days.
Do not go crazy on the shredding. Just shred it into bite size pieces. You can also chop it, but I find the texture comes out better when they are shredded, and they also look prettier this way.
Presentation and serving
After the rice is fully cooked, place it onto a large platter, mounding it in the center. Spread the shredded chicken over it. Sprinkle a variety of the roasted nuts over it and a little bit of finely chopped green onions for that fresh taste. You can serve it with some tabbouleh, rolled grape leaves, fries, hummus, and a variety of other dishes.
Mediterranean Rice Pilaf With Chicken – Gluten Free Recipe
Equipment
- Wooden Spoon
- Medium heavy bottom pot
- fine sieve
- Baking sheet with a drip rack
- Measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Paper towels
- Mortar and pestle or coffee grinder
Ingredients
Rice and beef
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 cups long grain rice
- ¼ cup red onion roughly diced
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 3 cardamom pods shelled and grounded
- 4 cups chicken broth less or more depending on the type of rice
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
Chicken
- 4-6 chicken thighs
- Olive oil
- Rotisserie chicken seasoning
Garnish
- Roasted almonds
- Roasted pine nuts
- Roasted cashews
- Roasted pistachios
- Diced green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with some paper towels. Rub the chicken thighs with some olive oil and rotisserie chicken seasoning. Place the chicken in the pan on the drip rack, and place it in the fridge for 20 minutes. This will help dry out the chicken and cause it to be crispier. It will also infuse the flavors into the chicken thighs.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F
- Place the chicken in the oven on the middle rack and allow it to bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until no longer pink on the inside. You can check after 3o minutes to make sure it does not dry out. After that, check every 5 to 10 minutes since chicken thighs vary in sizes and therefore, their cook time varies as well.
- Using a fine sieve, rinse the rice a few times, allow it to drain fully, and set it aside.
- Meanwhile, in a heavy bottom pot, on medium heat, brown the ground beef along with the crushed garlic and diced onions. If there is too much fat in the pot, you can drain some of it, but leave the rest for the rice.
- Add in the rice, salt, cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, white pepper, ground cardamom, and parsley flakes. Stir fry for about 2 to 5 minutes. This will enrich the flavor of the rice. It will give it a deep flavor rather than a flat flavor.
- Add in the chicken broth, the amount that is required to cook the rice. Follow the direction on the rice packaging. Most rice needs a ratio of 1cup of rice to two cups of water.
- Add in a bay leaf. Raise the heat up to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and allow it to cook for 30 to 35 minutes, or as long as it takes for the rice of your choice to be done.
- Debone the chicken thigs and shred them into large pieces.
- Remove the bay leaf from the cooked rice, and place the rice onto a serving platter. Cover with the shredded chicken, and garnish with the roasted nuts and a little bit of chopped green onions.
Notes
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on a link and purchase the item, I will get an affiliate commission. It will not cost you any extra money, but it will help me pay for this website, and it will help me to keep providing you with helpful articles such as this one. I only post links to products that I personally use and love, or to products that I wish I could have, and that could be of value to you. The information that I provide you with, my blog, videos, and many resources are free.
Be the first to reply