Serves 5-6
Ingredients:
2 cups Long Grain Rice (I always use Jasmine Rice)
5-10 Chicken drumsticks (or any other chicken pieces with bone in)
8oz Smoked Sausage (or any other sausage you like)
1 chopped Onion
1 14oz can diced Tomatoes
1 cup green Olives stuffed with pimentos
½ green Bell Pepper, chopped
2 minced Garlic cloves
½ cup fresh Parsley finely chopped
¼ cup All Purpose Flour (½ cup if you use more than 5 chicken pieces)
2 tablespoons Paprika (4 tablespoons if you use more than 5 chicken pieces)
½ tablespoon dry Oregano (1-1½ tablespoons if you use more than 5 chicken pieces)
Salt to taste
Ground Black Pepper to taste
Chicken Flavor Bouillon Seasoning to taste
2 Bay Leaves
4-5 cups Chicken Broth or Water (the amount of liquid depends on the kind of rice you use)
4-5 tablespoons of extra Virgin Olive Oil (more if you use more than 5 chicken pieces)
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
In a large plate or container combine the flour, paprika, ground black pepper to taste, oregano and chicken flavor bouillon seasoning to taste, stir well until combined. Coat the chicken pieces with this mixture. Make sure every chicken piece is really well seasoned and set aside for a minute. (You can season the flour mixture with any seasoning you like! Italian or Cajun go great with this recipe!)
In a large skillet on medium heat, preheat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil, and cook the chicken pieces until browned on all sides. (this will take about 15 minutes. you want to brown all sides, not just front and back.)
While the chicken gets some color. Now in a large saucepan on medium heat, preheat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the sausage for about 5 minutes or until browned, then remove from the saucepan, and in that same saucepan now cook the onion, bell pepper and garlic for about 2 minutes or until the onion and garlic soften a bit. Then add in the diced tomatoes, 2 bay leaves and 3-4 cups of chicken broth of liquid. (To check the exact amount of liquid, please check the instructions on your rice package, and add as much liquid as you need to cook the rice. My package needs 1½ cups of liquid for every 1 cup of rice, so I'm adding only 3 cups, but if your package calls for 2 cups of liquid for every 1 cup of rice, you will need to add 4 cups of liquid to the tomato mixture.)
After you add in the liquid, season with chicken flavor bouillon seasoning to taste (or salt and pepper), give it a quick stir, cover the saucepan with a lid, and cook on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until it comes to a boil.
Once the tomato mixture is boiling, taste the flavor add more salt and pepper if needed, and add in the rice, give it a quick stir, cover the saucepan with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
While the rice is simmering, now go back to the chicken. It should have a golden brown color on all sides by now, it won't be completely cooked, but don't worry, because it will finish cooking in the oven, so after the chicken is golden brown on all sides, turn off the heat and set it aside for a minute.
After the rice has being simmering for 10 minutes, now transfer it to a baking dish, spread it in an even layer, the top it with the olives, a ¼ cup fresh parsley and the sausage, give it a quick stir. (if your rice is looking dry, feel free to add more liquid so it will finish cooking in the oven, I added another ½ cup of chicken broth. But only add more liquid if you think is necessary.)
Top the rice mixture with the chicken pieces, cover everything with a lid, make sure it's well sealed, to keep the steam inside the baking dish, then cook in 350ºF oven for about 30 minutes or until the rice and chicken are completely cooked.
Garnish with the left over parsley, then serve.
Enjoy!!
