You may have figured out from my previous posts that Cuban food is among my favorites, and this Arroz Amarillo con Pollo is near the top of my list. It is a meal that everyone likes - very flavorful, but not spicy, and safe to serve to everyone except your strictest vegetarian friends. Every Cuban restaurant in Tampa makes this dish, but none are any better than this version which is an authentic Spanish recipe used at the famous Las Novedades restaurant in the Cuban Ybor City neighborhood from 1890 until the restaurant closed in the 1970's.
When you make Chicken and Yellow Rice, I would suggest using only the dark pieces of chicken, which will not dry out as easily as chicken breasts, and which will have a lot more flavor.
Also - very important- spring for a good quality saffron. It is expensive, but you don't need much. Do not use any kind of saffron powder, and absolutely do not add turmeric to make the rice more yellow like some recipes call for. If you use good saffron, it will almost certainly be yellow enough, and it will definitely have a very fine flavor. (Saffron can be pretty choosy, though, about who it turns yellow for.)
Serve this with a red sangria, but choose a recipe that is not so sweet as the Sangria Mexicana I gave you with the recent Shrimp Ceviche post. A good one to try would be my sister Alice's Sangria that she shared with Kathy and me a few years ago.
When you make Chicken and Yellow Rice, I would suggest using only the dark pieces of chicken, which will not dry out as easily as chicken breasts, and which will have a lot more flavor.
Also - very important- spring for a good quality saffron. It is expensive, but you don't need much. Do not use any kind of saffron powder, and absolutely do not add turmeric to make the rice more yellow like some recipes call for. If you use good saffron, it will almost certainly be yellow enough, and it will definitely have a very fine flavor. (Saffron can be pretty choosy, though, about who it turns yellow for.)
Serve this with a red sangria, but choose a recipe that is not so sweet as the Sangria Mexicana I gave you with the recent Shrimp Ceviche post. A good one to try would be my sister Alice's Sangria that she shared with Kathy and me a few years ago.
