Puerto Rican Chicken in Green Sauce with Cilantro Rice

I'm missing Puerto Rico quite a bit, especially as the chill starts to creep into the city.  As I sat working at home sometime last week, I decided to put the slow cooker to work and also try to recreate the awesome cilantro rice I had at Inca Chicken.

My subscription to Food & Wine finally kicked into gear and my first issue arrived! I decided to make a slightly modified version of the Puerto Rican Chicken in Green Sauce.

3 skinless chicken drumsticks
3 skinless bone-in chicken thighs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups packed cilantro leaves
3 garlic cloves, halved
2 large jalapenos, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/8 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons EVOO
3/4 cups chicken stock
4 medium red-skinned potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick

Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and cumin.  Let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, puree the cilantro, garlic, jalapenos, onion, red and green peppers and wine with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Transfer to slow cooker and stir in the stock.  Add the chicken.

Cover and cook on high for 1 hour and 45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.  No matter how tempting, don't open the slow cooker!  It'll just make the process last longer.

Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and through them into the stew.  Cover and cook on high for about 30 minutes until potatoes are tender.  Season again with salt and pepper (flavor sometimes gets lost in the juices). Done!

The cilantro rice was also pretty easy to make, thanks to a slight change to Mr. Lagasse's recipe.

2 1/2 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped white onions
2 jalapenos, chopped (I kept the seeds which made it really spicy)
2 tsps chopped garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 cup long-grain white rice

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil.  Add the onions and jalapenos and stir for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, salt, cilantro and parsley.  Cook for 30 second then remove from heat and transfer to food processor with 1/2 cup of chicken stock.  Process on high speed until smooth.  Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same pan then add the rice and cook while stirring for a minute or two.  Add the puree and cook for a couple more minutes.

Add the remaining stock, stir and cover, and lower the heat to medium-low.  Simmer without stirring until liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit for another 10 to 15 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

Of course I fried some plantain to go with it...shock.

Hungry yet?