My Recipe: Chicken with Rice

Vinny’s Chicken with Rice

Ingredients:
6-8 chicken wings
1 3/4 cups Italian style rice
1 1/4 tsp. salt
pepper, parsley, parmesan cheese
Yield: four servings

Directions:
1. Fill a medium-sized pot with about 7 cups of water and bring to a boil. While waiting…
2. Wash chicken wings.
3. Cut the wing tips off.
4. Place wings in the pot.
5. When it reaches a boil, reduce to a simmer. Be careful it doesn't overflow. The fat will "foam up", but if simmering slowly enough, it will dissipate. Do NOT remove the foam. It provides much of the taste. While waiting...
6. Lightly rinse excess starch from rice.
7. After about 30 minutes, remove the chicken and spray with cold water. Do not discard the water in the pot.
8. Carefully separate the meat from the fat, bones and cartilage.
9. Ladle out about one third of the water in the pot and set aside (you may need some or all of it).
10. Place the meat back in the pot.
11. Place a chicken bouillon cube (or like powder) into the pot.
12. Put about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of rice into the pot.
13. Season with salt, pepper and parsley.
14. Simmer covered until rice is cooked, stirring occasionally.
15. Ladle out into bowls, sprinkle with more pepper, parsley and parmesan cheese if you have it.
16. Serve with garlic bread or bread sticks.

Notes:
1. If most of the water dissipates before the rice is fully cooked, stir in a bit of the reserve as you go along. The contents should be free of water when it's done.
2. Parmesan cheese is indispensable in an Italian household. I use it in many dishes--pastas and soups, for instance.