Chicken With Tomato Rice Pilaf

Chicken With Tomato Rice Pilaf
from Chef Michele's Adventures: Celebrity Chef Cookbook Reviews by Michele
I recently got a few new cookbooks that contain some really amazing recipes. I'm hoping to try several over the next few weeks and will post the recipes here.Tonight I made a dish called Chicken With Tomato Rice Pilaf from Claudia Roden's Arabesque. This cookbook contains recipes from Morocco, Lebanon and Turkey. There are many beautiful photographs throughout the book as well. It would make a beautiful coffee table book because the cover is so pretty. I really enjoyed reading this book because not only is it a cook book, it also contains a wealth of information about the countries from which the recipes hail. This is the first recipe I have tried from this book and it is wonderful! We had it with buttered peas, homemade pitas and hummus.Chicken With Tomato Rice Pilaf(Adapted from Arabesque by Cladia Roden)(for the rice)1 1/2 c. long grain rice1 (15 oz.) diced tomatoes1 tsp. chicken bullion powder2 tsp. sugarsalt and pepper1/2 stick butter, diced(for the chicken)4 boneless, skinless chicken pieces1 Tbsp. light olive oil2 Tbsp. butter1/2 tsp ground coriandersalt and pepperdried parsleyStart by making the rice. Blend tomatoes in blender then add enough water to make 2 2/3 cups. Pour the tomato puree into a pot along with the bullion, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let cook for 20 minutes or until rice is fluffy. Add more water if needed towards the end of cooking and simmer a few more minutes. Stir in butter and set aside. For the chicken, cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Heat oil and butter in a skillet then add chicken and cook 6 - 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn pieces over once during cooking. Serve chicken over the rice sprinkled with parsley.