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Pot Lucky: Food For The Community

Photo by MICHELLE BAKER

The recipe is as old as a Seminole Heights bungalow and utilizes all of what Tampa has to offer.

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By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondents

Published: January 8, 2009

Last week we were reminded why we love our neighborhood so much.

The whole reason we bought a home during the Great Inflation - as we so fondly refer to it - was because we fell in love with the sense of historic community our little neighborhood offers.

On any given day we can walk out our front door, down the three little steps from our wrap-around porch, and be greeted by no fewer than two neighbors. We wave through car windows as we pass each other on the street, we bump into each other at our little neighborhood grocery store and we watch each other's pets.

We are Seminole Heights.

Seminole Heights is mostly known for our porch parties and as the very liberal neighborhood of Tampa, where 1920-something-built, newly restored bungalows dot the avenues. We're a proud, diverse melting pot of a community: true rainbow of color, ethnicity, religion, ideology and wealth. And we're not afraid to speak our minds - some more than others. One thing we all can agree upon, however, is our passion for food, which brings us back to how we were recently reminded that we live in a truly special place.

The neighbors who live two doors down dropped off three heaping plates of deliciousness over the holidays - down-home, from-scratch family recipes made in their kitchen. It was all lick-the-plate-good.

It reminded us of being kids and how neighbors would often drop by with casseroles and pot roasts for a major event. It could be a wedding, a funeral, a graduation or a holiday; tables were filled with Cool Whip-laden fruit salads and candied yams galore. The neighborhoods of our childhood thrived on a sense of community and everyone talked about it over food.

Our little bungalow was built in 1926, and sometimes when we're sitting on our front porch, we like to think of who and what the neighbors were doing then and what kinds of foods they were sharing. Sooner or later, our own neighbors drop by.

This recipe is one of our never-fail dishes. The rice soaks up every bit of flavor from the spices, chorizo and chicken, while the chicken itself is fork-tender and robust with flavor. Everyone loves it and it's very inexpensive. The recipe is as old as our little bungalow and utilizes all of what Tampa has to offer.

Be sure to make enough for your neighbors.

CHICKEN WITH CHORIZO, PIGEON PEAS AND YELLOW RICE

For marinating chicken:

3 large garlic cloves, diced fine

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped

1 orange, juiced

12 chicken thighs, skinless

For rice:

3 small links Spanish chorizo (cured variety), skin discarded and diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 can pigeon peas, rinsed and drained of liquid

1 medium onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 pinches Spanish saffron

3 large garlic cloves, diced

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped

11/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 bay leaf, whole

1 pound Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

11/2 cups chicken stock

2 cups long-grain white rice

1/4 cup roasted red-pepper, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Marinate chicken: combine the garlic, orange juice, oregano, and vinegar.

Toss the chicken with the marinade until coated and marinate, covered and chilled, at least 1 hour.

Chicken and rice: heat a sturdy, deep pot with olive oil on medium-high. Remove the chicken from marinade and pat it dry. Reserve the marinade. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pot and reduce the heat to medium.

Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and chorizo and saute for about 5 minutes, just until the onion begins to become translucent.

Add the cumin, cinnamon, paprika, salt, pepper and bay leaf and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, to allow the flavors to meld. Add the chicken and reserved marinade to the chorizo mixture and cook, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, stock, saffron, roasted red bell pepper, fresh oregano, pigeon peas and rice and bring to a boil, making sure that the rice is submerged.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, then cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid. Cook 20 to 30 minutes until the rice is tender and chicken is thoroughly cooked through. Try to resist the urge to lift the lid or stir, but if you have to, only stir once or twice while there is ample liquid. Avoiding stirring after liquid has reduced below the rice line.

Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf before serving.

Serves 6

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