Cuban-Style Arroz Con Pollo

Remove excess skin and fat from chicken parts and liberally season parts as desired. In a oven proof heavy duty pot, brown the chicken pieces in some olive oil and remove. Discard any excess fat. Cook the onion, peppers and garlic with bay leave until vegetables softened. Return chicken to the pot and add the chicken broth and tomato product. Bring to a boil and cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes. Add rice and saffron if using and bring to a boil again and simmer covered about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the 1 cup beer and cover and place pot in a 350 degrees F oven for another 20 minutes. Rice should have absorbed practically all the liquid. Stir in the peas and cover and let sit another 10 minutes until rice is fluffy.

Garnish as desired with pimento strips and or olives and fresh chopped cilantro To serve molded: pack some pieces of chicken with the rice mixture into a small bowl and invert onto a serving plate.

Cook's Notes: if you want more of a vivid yellow rice, omit any tomato product and replace with broth, beer or water and use saffron ,or a bit of yellow seasoning to the recipe.