His Favorite. My Signature.

     As, I posted on my first ever blog post, I have about 5 signature dishes.  (Wow, I have officially been blogging for over a month now!!) The dishes I know by heart and can whip up with no problem! These are also some of Mr. Bloom's favorite things that I make.  One of them is... Chicken & Rice! To be honest, I don't have a specific recipe.  I usually just season to taste! I am going to try my best to direct you to make the best rice of your life!  I remember being in my sophomore year of college and calling my dad for the directions.  The first couple of times I made it were questionable, but with repetition the rice got better and better.  Now, I am a pro at it!  Mr. Bloom thinks so too! As I said in the Mexican Please! post, you can just take out the chicken and have the rice for a side.  I don't particularly post the meals I make in order. I was planning on posting this before the enchilada post, but Mr. Bloom chose the Enchiladas before this one.  So now you can complete your meal with the rice! Hehe. 

Ingredients

- Long Grain White Rice

-  Canola Oil

- 1 can of Original Rotel
(If you like Spicy! If not 1/2 a can will do!)

- Chicken Bouillon 

- Tomato Bouillon

- Salt

- Pepper

- Chicken Breast 

Directions

• I always put the burner on medium heat.  When it heats up, pour about two to three tablespoons of canola oil in the pan.  Tilt the pan so that you get the canola oil on the whole bottom of the pan and not just clustered into one spot.  
• Mr. Bloom and I love this rice, and we always want some for leftovers.  For this to be possible, I always use 2 cups of rice.  (You can change this accordingly) 
• Pour the rice into the pan.  This process is called "browning" the rice.  I wonder why? Stir the rice and in turn it will get coated in the oil.  After a few minutes the rice will turn brown.  If it starts to smell like it's burning, then you probably have browned it too much! Make sure you cook it enough though, because if you don't cook it enough your rice will turn out hard in the end.  If there are a few burnt pieces of rice, don't worry about it..Everything will turn out okay.

• As soon as the rice is brown add 4 cups of water and the can of rotel.  I would say a teaspoon of each salt, pepper, chicken bouillon, and tomato bouillon.  (NOTE: If you are NOT making 2 cups of rice, the recipe just calls for a 1:2 ratio of rice to water.. So 1 cup Rice: 2 cups Water... 4 cups Rice: 8 cups Water...etc.)  
• You can always do a little seasoning to the rice when it is done.  I never measure to be honest.  So, these are guesstimated measurements. What I believe I put! 
• Turn the burner to medium - high and cover the rice, stirring occasionally! 

• I boiled two pieces of chicken breast.  To the water I added about 3 tablespoons of Chicken Bouillon.  I don't think you can use too much of this stuff!  I put the chicken in frozen and it took about 20 minutes to cook through.  

• After the chicken is done you can shred it with a fork or your hands.  I did this while the rice was browning.  So, maybe start your chicken a little bit before you start browning the rice.  Set the chicken to the side.  
• You can do the chicken multiple ways! 

1. I boil it, because I usually forget to take the chicken out of the freezer.  Shredded chicken has been my favorite way to eat it, though! 
2. If your chicken is thawed, you can cut it into pieces and add it when you add the water to the rice.
3. You can buy the precooked fajita chicken, and just mix it in when your rice is done.  Of course, follow the package directions for heating it!

• After a few minutes of stirring occasionally, you will notice that the water will be disappearing! Perhaps the rice is eating it! Once all the water is gone, you will need to do some taste testing.  If you taste in and the rice is not cooked all the way through (still a little hard), you may need to add a little more water.  Cover it again, until you taste it and the rice is just right.  Too much water and your rice will become mushy.  You know how you want your rice to taste! If you think it needs a little more seasoning, now is the time! 
• Make sure to stir the rice, because it can look like everything is fine and dandy, but when you go to stir it, it could be stuck to the pan! 
• I always add the chicken whenever there is a little water left in the skillet.  This is not necessary, you can add it when the rice is done.  I just figure that a little more flavor will get into the chicken if I do it this way...

• Put it in a bowl and enjoy! Mr. Bloom loves to put cheese on his.  

     I was kind of nervous writing this post, because I really don't have a recipe.  I always worry I am not explaining good enough!  I guess if you are expecting a professional cook, this blog is not for you! : ) . I hope my directions are easy to follow, and of course, if there are any questions I will definitely answer them! I hope I didn't forget anything! I love this dish, and I hope you will too! 

With that, Enjoy!