Real Florida Chicken Thighs and Rice

Now you are going to think this is a chicken and citrus recipe because everyone equates Florida with oranges, grapefruit and of course the Key Lime. Well there is another part of Florida where the cowboys and Indians roam that brings another whole taste to the table. This is the central part of the state where they raise cattle and sugarcane.

Most tourist only see the beaches and what they think is Florida but there is another whole world to behold when you get into Desoto, Hendry and the other counties in the middle of the state. In Hendry county is a great place named Labelle. The people are friendly and the food is amazing. A butcher who lived there back in the 1940's always made a seasoning for his customers to use on their meats. It because very popular and a favorite of everyone in the area. He had began the development in Saipan when he was a mess sergeant in the army. He actually started to market it as Everglades Seasoning in 1976.  My chicken recipe is easy, fast and of course uses that great seasoning as its core flavor. http://www.evergladesseasoning.com/

Soak 4-6 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on) in about a quart of water and 1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar for 10 minutes or so and then rinse.

In your electric pressure cooker add about 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and let it heat on saute.
Add 1 tsp of Everglades Seasoning and smell the aroma
Slowly add a couple or three chicken thighs and brown on saute turn them and when brown on all sides remove and add the next two or three. You might want to shake in a bit more of the Everglades Seasoning to make sure they get to bathe in that great blend of spices.

When all the chicken are browned remove from the pressure cooker and add  2 cups of rice to the oil. Stir the rice around so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Then add either 1 Cup of chicken stock and 3 Cups of water or 4 Cups of water. The chicken stock will make it a bit stronger than just the water alone....just sayin- you be the judge of your palate.

Lay that chicken on top of the rice skin side down and place the lid on. Set the pressure cooker for 24 minutes on the poultry setting. When the  pressure cooker finishes let the pressure off manually so the rice doesn't get mooshie.

Then add one can of small red beans in chili sauce. This will add that one last taste to this already flavorful and aromatic dish.  Mix them in and serve. Now you are tasting the old Florida flavors which the pioneering families

came to know and love.

Everglade seasonings

Chicken and Rice in a Hurry

Sorry to make this blog post without a picture but we ate it. I had some boneless chicken thighs that needed to  be use and not much time last night. So I pulled out the pressure cooker and went to work.

First I turned on the saute and threw in a chopped onion, a handful of fresh garlic, salt, pepper, adobe, and the chicken thighs into the bottom of the pressure cooker where I was heating about 1/8 a cup of oil (use your choice of oils). I let the onions turn to a little translucent and seared the chicken for about five minutes. 

Then I added a cup and a half of rice, two tablespoons of butter, and three cups of water. I made sure the butter was melted to give some flavor to the whole thing- nobody said it was healthy!!!  The top was ready to go on and push the meat/stew button and away we go. The cooking time was about 35 minutes under pressure.It came out really great. The rice was perfect. I let it rest as the chefs would say and then mixed it up a little. 

This was good, filling with a veggie on the side. We called it dinner and leftovers for the next day. I usually try to take a picture so you can see what it looks like but there was not time. The husband had his fork and knife in hand waiting for a plate to attack.