Chicken With Vegetables and Wild Rice

 

Ingredients

• 5 chicken drumsticks
• olive oil
• coarse salt
• fresh oregano

• 3 leeks
• 5 small or 3 large carrots
• 2 cloves garlic
• 5 dried porcini mushrooms

• large handful french beans, cleaned and trimmed
• 3 tbsp butter
• black pepper

• 1 package mixed wild/brown rice
• 1/4 cup white cooking wine
• 3/4 cup mixed mild cheese (any mixture of white cheddar, dry mozzarella, swiss, provolone)

Recipe

1. Set oven to 375 degrees F. Coat drumsticks with olive oil and sprinkle sparingly with coarse salt. Top with fresh oregano sprigs. Bake until golden brown, turning once.
2. While the chicken cooks, peel and trim carrots. Put peel and trimmings into a stock pot. Separate white and green of leeks. Clean dirt from green thoroughly (you have to peel every layer off and wash both sides) and add to stock pot. Soak whites of leeks in a bowl of fresh water.
3. Add porcini and garlic cloves to stock pot, and cover everything with water. Add a pinch of salt and simmer while the chicken cooks.
4. Slice carrots and whites of leeks into rounds. Set aside.
5. When the chicken is fully cooked, remove the meat and set aside. Put skin, bones and all other trimmings from the chicken in the stock pot. Add white wine. Swish stock around the oven pan to get all the juices.
6. Simmer the stock until it’s rich and the chicken trimmings look boiled, then strain and discard the solids. Add rice to the stock and cook according to package directions, adding water if necessary.
7. While the rice cooks, melt butter in a deep, large sauté pan. Over a med-low heat, sauté carrot and leek rounds until sweet and caramelized. Add chicken and french beans and cook until the raw flavour of the french beans just barely leaves them, but they’re still crunchy. Add a sprinkle of black pepper.
8. When the rice is cooked, fold into the chicken and vegetable mixture and add the cheese. Serve immediately!