matt harris*

recipe box · Mains

Pollo a la Plancha

This is a beautiful, richly flavored dish.

Ingredients

  • Chicken breasts
  • Cilantro
  • 3 limes
  • 1 large spanish onion
  • Green bell pepper
  • Minced garlic (4 cloves minced, 2 cloves whole)
  • Bay leaf
  • Sugar, cumin and cayenne pepper
  • White rice
  • 3 slices bacon
  • 12 oz soaked black beans

Steps

  1. Dry chicken breasts with a paper towel. Spread cling wrap over a cutting board and butterfly the chicken breasts. Then pound them flat.
  2. Add them to a zip lock with the juice from two limes, two minced cloves of garlic, a pinch of salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar, 1 tbsp olive oil, a pinch of cumin and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Shake and massage the bag. Marinate for 30 minutes.
  3. Slice ½ the onion. Mince ½ the onion. Mince the bell pepper. Mince two cloves garlic. Halve the remaining lime.
  4. Rinse the starch off the rice until the water runs clear. Add a cup and a half of water to a sauce pan, along with ¾ cup white rice, two whole cloves garlic, a tbsp olive oil, salt, and the bay leaf. Cover and simmer.
  5. Saute the bacon in a sauce pan. Add a little water to help render out all of the bacon fat before removing the bacon and adding the minced onions and peppers. Sauté until soft and translucent. Then add garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Add the bacon along with the 12 oz of soaked black beans and a little of the soaking liquid. Simmer over low heat until soft.
  6. Add oil to a pan and saute the sliced onions.
  7. Once they are done, take them out and add the chicken, in a little additional oil if needed. Fry the chicken 2–3 minutes per side and don’t move until time to flip (for large breasts, I would do 4–6 min per side). Squeeze some lime over the top after the flip.
  8. Plate with lime slices, use a plastic container to mold the rice, and add the black beans. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Top the chicken with the fried onions.

Source: youtube.com