What is it about comfort food in this pandemic that screams out to you EAT ME. I’m trying to recreate a meal I had last week when the kids were in k because it was so friggin’ good. Honestly. I don’t usually make rice & beans but I remembered that I’d bought this seasoning / rub a few years back when I was in Montana. It imparts this smoky flavor that makes them irrisistible. Ben was looking through some magazines and decided we had to have Adobe Chicken and instead of just serving it with rice (as was suggested in the recipe) to do it with rice and beans. He follows David Chang’s cooking show lately and threw in some of his suggestions so when I recreated it last night all I had was a handwritten note…Honestly, the smells coming out of my kitchen were so mouth watering I didn’t think I could wait until it was done. It was also great the next day with a poached, runny egg on top (isn’t everything better with an egg?!).

Let me know what you think!

Adobo Chicken

adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons canola oil

6 skin-on, bone in chicken thighs or 1 cut up chicken - for the remake of this I used 4 boneless, skin on chicken thighs since that’s all they had at the store

6 - 10 cloves of garlic

5 bay leaves

3/4 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

2 - 6 hot chili peppers chopped up finely, with seeds (NOTE - I do like things spicy so if you are not a fan of spice than do not do this. If you take the seeds out it will be less spicy but I like it so spicy that I cry)

Kosher salt & Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Cook chicken, skin side down, turning once or twice so that the chicken gets browned all over. About 10 - 15 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add garlic, bay leaves, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar and the chilies to same pot you just cooked the chicken in. Bring to a simmer and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Season with pepper & salt (if you need - careful here as the soy sauce is naturally salty).

Return the chicken to the pot. Cover and cook at a low simmer. Turn the chicken about 20 minutes into the cooking. You’ll probably cook this for about 30 - 40 minutes. You want the chicken to be tender but not falling apart. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower to medium high and take the cover off. You want tot reduce the liquid so that the chicken is barely coated and the liquid has gotten gooey and sticks to a spoon.

Serve with rice - plain or with the rice & beans.

Rice & Beans

Ingredients

Either 1/2 bag of dried beans - your choice - soaked and ready to be used or any can (15-ounce) of kidney, pinto, cannellini beans, drained and rinsed. I prefer to soak my beans but if you don’t have the time or didn’t think about it beforehand, canned is great!

3 slices of bacon or sliced sausage or pepperoni. This go round we used deli pepperoni that we wanted to finish off. You are just looking for a slight additional flavor for your beans. If you’re a vegan you can just skip this part and use olive oil, onion, garlic and seasoning.

1/2 onion, chopped

4 - 6 garlic cloves, chopped

3-4 celery sticks, finely diced

Red or Green pepper if you want (I did not use - I didn’t have)

1 cup of dried rice ( check your rice directions - you are looking to have about 3 cups of cooked rice)

3 bay leaves

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

Soy Sauce - Use your judgement - I had about 1/3 of a bottle left over and threw it in

4 cups of Chicken Stock (you can use water as well) If you soaked your beans you can use the liquid left over from that - objective is to have enough liquid to cook the beans & rice in / leave it with some moisture.

For seasoning - I used the Gallatin Riverhouse Grill’s Pinto Bean seasoning which has paprika, cumin, salt, spices, and garlic in it which is pretty consistent with most recipes I looked at. Use your judgement. I think the Gallatin seasoning has a smokiness in their spices. You might want to try a little liquid smoke if you have. If not, use more seasoning / paprika and cumin.

Directions

In large saucepan cook bacon/pepperoni or sausage until it is browned / crunchy. If you are using pepperoni or sausage, but it up into small pieces before cooking. If you are using bacon, cook it first and then you an easily crumble it after it has been drained. Depending on what you cooked you can either take out the bacon / drain it. If you are using the pepperoni or sausage just leave it in the pan. If you’re making this a vegan dish go to next step.

Depending on how much fat you have in your pan either cook the next ingredients in olive oil or the bacon/ pork grease. Add onions, garlic and saute for about a minute. Add celery and pepper (if you are using) and cook until the onion and garlic has browned. Add rice and stir, coating all the grains. Stir in tomato paste, spices and bay leaves. Add chicken stock, soy sauce and (if you have) the liquid from the soaked beans and bring to a boil. Add your beans and reduce heat. Cover and cook until your rice is done. Stir, fluffing up the rice and let sit for a few minutes before serving.