RCP: Spanish Rice??

Many years ago, my sister, when she was a young nurse in Boston, had a Spanish room mate who made what she called “Spanish Rice”, made by her mother in Spain, which was totally different than the Spanish Rice my mother made. I’m relying on my memory from about 50 years ago in trying to re-create it here. I combined what I remember with a simple paella recipe posted several years ago by Mike Filigenzi. I have not made this yet and was wondering if anyone here would have any comments or suggestions. I plan on making this in the not-too-distant future and will report back on the results.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs
1 large onion, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp EVOO
2 cups short-grain rice (I have Arborio on hand)
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry sherry
1 - 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
1 tsp. Saffron
1 Tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 375°. Over medium-high heat, brown the chicken in olive oil, in your paella pan (or large skillet or Dutch oven). Remove the chicken to a plate. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, peppers and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft and transparent. Add the rice, stir to coat with the oil and continue to heat, stirring, until, at first, the rice grains go partly clear, then return to a flat white color. Deglaze with the sherry and reduce by half. Add 2 cups of the hot chicken stock, liquid from garbanzos and seasonings to the rice and bring to a boil. Cover the paella pan, place in oven and allow to cook for 10 minutes. At the end of that time, add the remaining chicken stock and garbanzos to the rice and stir. Place the chicken thighs on top of the rice mixture. Cover and return to the oven for a final 10 min. At the end of this time, the rice should be tender. If the rice is still not tender enough, add another cup of chicken stock and cook for an additional 10 min.

[Jenise]

Okay, Howie, I can help. Two alarms went off as I read through the ingredients, and a third while reading through the procedure.

Problemo Numero Uno: arborio rice. Arborio is risotto rice, and would exude an inordinate amount of starch into your dish in a way that would be texturally problematic. In Spain, the rice used in paella and other dishes is Bomba. A Japanese or less expensive Calrose short grain will be closer and better--if you're not used to using short grain rices, rinse it well in advance of putting it into the dish to get rid of the talc.

Problemo Numero Dos: the garbanzo liquid. Not all canned beans are created equal. The liquid element in some might be close to the texture of water, and the liquid of some is quite viscuous. That viscosity will be starch, and it will not soak into the rice well. It would be gummy and stick to the pan--I'd skip that step completely. Additionally, you've got four cups of chicken broth for two of rice, and at 2:1 you won't need the extra liquid from the garbanzos. I wouldn't risk it.

Re the cooking: moving the pan from the stovetop to the oven--back and forth with checking--is too much work and you gain nothing. Your methodology--adding liquid and rice, adding more liquid etc is imitating a paella process, but that process is necessitated by the episodic addition of ingredients and the potential need for the addition of liquids because two things are happening to the liquid component, not just absorption but evaporation too as a paella pan is never covered. Since your methodology involves using a cover and includes a more-than-sage 2:1 stock to rice ratio, you can instead count on one long finishing covered cook on the stovetop or move to the oven for a final 20-30 minute bake.

Thank you, Jenise. I'll save the Arborio for making risotto and use long grain. I was thinking about draining and rinsing the beans. When I make Beans & Greens soup I use cannellini beans with the liquid, but that is soup, not a rice dish. I think I will use the dutch oven and follow your cooking recommendations.

btw, that residual garbanzo liquid (recently termed "aquafaba") is all the craze as an egg white substitute in cocktails.

btw, that residual garbanzo liquid (recently termed "aquafaba") is all the crazy as an egg white substitute in cocktails.

And also being used, again as an egg white substitute, for vegan meringues and other curious things which are on my list if to try somerptime for the fun of it.

I have used garbanzo aquafaba for pavlova. Amazing how it whips up. Quite a reasonable substitute for egg white. Makes you want to stop wasting it but I've not tried any other suggestion for it. With whipped cream/custard and fruit hard to tell the difference but I'm not a meringue maven.