Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Good morning all, sorry this is slightly delayed I was going to upload it yesterday in time for Blackpool Ballroom but had a million things to do, oh ok, not a million but it felt like šŸ˜† ! This is based on Simon Rimmerā€™s Baked Cuban Chicken and Rice from Something For The Weekend. Iā€™m using this as my recipe to represent the Rumba. Thereā€™s Rum in it and also the Rumba originates from Cuba. Weā€™ve seen two cracking Rumbaā€™s this season one from Helen and Aljaž in week 7 where they scored 31 dancing to Adeleā€™s ā€œHelloā€. We also had an equally good Rumba from my personal favourite Anton and Katie in week 8; they danced to Shirley Basseyā€™s ā€œNever, Never, Neverā€.

The Ingredients - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
The Ingredients – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Thereā€™s rum in this recipe, my friends Kirsty and I are on self imposed bans from alcohol for four week (28 day ban) so having this in the recipe may have been controversial but the alcohol was burned off so it was fine. Why the ban, well itā€™s to try and become a bit healthier and to lose a bit of weight ready for Christmas. There are lots of ingredients in this recipe, donā€™t be fooled, itā€™s not difficult and Iā€™m going to look at ways of making it easier, but itā€™s fairly easy in its self. My recipe is different from the original, you can find the original here but because of time and to make the process easier Iā€™ve cut a few corners.

The process for making the stock - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
The process for making the stock – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

The first thing to do is to get the stock on, you can make your own chicken stock or use bottled stock but I put two stock cubes in a sauce pan in 1.5 litres of water, seasoned and left on a medium heat.

Chopping up the Sausage Mix ingredients - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Chopping up the Sausage Mix ingredients – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

The next thing to do is to chop the ingredients up, cut the chicken up and put that to one side and then chop up the chorizo, carrots and onion and set them to one side. At this point you can also weigh out the rice and set that aside, the rice for this recipe should be short grained rice.

The ingredients that flavour the stock - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
The ingredients that flavour the stock – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Once youā€™ve got the stock on you need to keep an eye on it and stir it from time to time to ensure the stock cubes have dissolved. For the spice mix add the above ingredients to a small bowl and mix.

Herbs, spices and seasoning to flavour the stock - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Herbs, spices and seasoning to flavour the stock – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

I didnā€™t use dark brown sugar, I used light brown sugar because itā€™s all I had ā€“ thatā€™s what cooking is all about make do and mend, if you havenā€™t got something stick something else in. I also didnā€™t have paprika so I used Smoked Paprika. I had to go out and buy Garlic Powder and Onion Powder so that was new, I know they are used in a certain Fried Chicken recipe so Iā€™ll be trying to recreate that too.

Herbs, spices and seasoning mixed with some oil - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Herbs, spices and seasoning mixed with some oil – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Once youā€™ve mixed all the seasonings, sugar, herbs and spices together add some oil and mix that through. Youā€™re trying to make something that Iā€™ve heard called slurry like the one in the photo above, excuse the belly!

Putting the Rum in Rumba - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Putting the Rum in Rumba – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

I used Tesco Dark Rum, I have only tried Rum once playing poker with Greg and two other friends some time ago, I canā€™t say itā€™s a drink I really like but you know me I wouldnā€™t say no. The original recipe asks for 50ml but we used 60ml, the glass Iā€™m using is a glass I had from a friend Emma who sells Forever products, if you are interested in Foreverā€™s Aloe Vera products let me know and I can pass her details on to you.

The process of flavouring the stock - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
The process of flavouring the stock – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

To the stock on the hob add the slurry and then pour in the rum and mix thoroughly, allow it to sit there on a low heat to burn off the alcohol and to let become friendly with each other.

Browning the Chicken - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Browning the Chicken – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Add some oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken until they are golden brown. I only had two chicken breasts; ideally youā€™d need 350g of chicken according to the original recipe. Set the chicken aside and letā€™s cook the sausage mixture.

The process of making the sausage mixture - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
The process of making the sausage mixture – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Firstly fry the carrots and onions; you want to cook them until they are soft. Once theyā€™ve started to soften you can add the minced garlic and stir thoroughly, allow all the flavours to mingle and get to know each other. Then add the star of the show, the chorizo and cook on a medium heat until the vegetables have softened and the chorizo oil is oozing into the pan. Make sure all the ingredients are mixed through thoroughly, take off the hob ready and add to a bowl

The cooked sausage mixture in a bowl - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
The cooked sausage mixture in a bowl – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

At this point you can season the mixture and give it a stir, let all the ingredients sit while you add the rest.

Adding ingredients to the cooked sausage mixture - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Adding ingredients to the cooked sausage mixture – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

To the sausage and vegetable mixture add the rice, the beans and the tomatoes. The original recipe asks for long grain rice and whole tomatoes not tinned tomatoes, I personally hate the skin of a tomato so where possible I use tinned. The long grain rice situation was a bit puzzling, I used it because it was all I had, so I was intrigued to know why Simon Rimmer had specified Short Grain Rice, I did some digging. Iā€™ve tweeted Simon Rimmer to ask what the reason was and will let you know when I have a reply back.

Spooning the sausage mixture into a casserole dish - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Spooning the sausage mixture into a casserole dish – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

After mixing the ingredients thoroughly spoon a layer on to the bottom of a casserole dish (again excuse the belly).Ā  Simon’s recipe says to spoon half over, I didn’t do that I’ve layered it, next time I’ll do half the mixture.

Adding a layer of chicken to the casserole dish - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Adding a layer of chicken to the casserole dish – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

In my case next I added a layer of chicken, then spoon a layer of the sausage mixture and carry on repeating until everything is used up. What Iā€™ll do next time is add all the chicken here, then add the other half of the sausage mixture.

Topping off the casserole dish with stock - Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice
Topping off the casserole dish with stock – Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice

Spoon the stock over the top of the ingredients, once youā€™ve done that place it the oven and cook for 45 minutes onwards. I cooked it for an hour and ten minutes, whether that was because it was long grain rice and it takes longer, Iā€™m not sure but it took longer than the recipe said.

Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice after it's come out of the oven
Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice after it’s come out of the oven

Youā€™ll notice Iā€™ve used a different casserole dish in the picture above, why, because I stupidly put it in one that was too small šŸ˜³ . When you take it out of the oven youā€™ll get hit but stunning smells of the chorizo and the spices which will fill your room and, if you werenā€™t hungry already you will be now.

Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice topped with chopped Basil
Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice topped with chopped Basil

When its cooked sprinkle some basil over the top, the original recipe calls for parsley but I had basil, whatā€™s a difference in herbs between friends?

Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice ready to eat
Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice ready to eat

Iā€™ve served mine with a basil leaf (as always) because my motherā€™s drummed it in to me over the years that we need a bit of green. It was a stunning dish, warm in flavours with plenty of depth with the paprika and the chorizo giving it a mild kick of spice. Iā€™ve never used cannellini beans before but they were lovely and the long grain rice worked better than I thought it would. This recipe is like all my recipes, take your time, if it takes longer than Iā€™ve said it takes longer, I guarantee itā€™ll be well worth it. Iā€™d certainly cook this one again, would I do it differently, yes possibly thereā€™s a lot of processes which could be, well, streamlined but Iā€™m not sure if youā€™d get the same end result.

Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice in all it's glory
Strictly Suppers 2015 #4 Rumba Chicken and Rice in all it’s glory

Donā€™t forget as always you can download my step-by-step instructions here. Next week for the fifth instalment in our Strictly Suppers range weā€™ve got Cha-Cha-Char Grilled Tuna Steak with a spiced soy, honey and ginger sauce and cheatā€™s mashed potatoes.

Mystery Bag Meals Information
Mystery Bag Meals Information

Iā€™m back to normal now (normal, ok I know Iā€™ve never been normal but you know what I mean) Tuesday weā€™ve got a review of Asda Beef Bourguignon with Red and White Quinoa. Donā€™t forget you can get in touch to give me a Mystery Bag challenge, see the information below. For now, have a good week and thanks for stopping by.Wheelie Good Meals Social NetworkingSpecial thanks to Kirsty for helping me cook this one and for taking the photographs for me and for Alice and Heather for suggesting the recipe. Fingers crossed Iā€™ve got some news about a few new videos on the horizon! Enjoy cooking the recipe, if you make anything from this blog please let me know, also send in your thoughts, pictures, ideas ā€“ just basically get in touch via our social networking sites above! I hope you enjoyed strictly, I canā€™t say Iā€™m disappointed in the result; it was long overdue, just a shame Jeremyā€™s gone.

See you Tuesday

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