One of the dorkiest (dorkiest used in the best possible way) things some Big Green Egg owners do is to incorporate the word Egg into any word, such as EGGceptional, EGGciting or EGGcelent. It gets a bit old after a while but you can't blame their enthusiasm.
Where was I? Oh yeah, Adobo Mexican Rice. I had a flat iron steak and decided to make our usual fajitas.
I needed a good side dish and Crepes of Wrath's Adobo Mexican Rice seemed to fit the bill so I converted it for live fire cooking.
Adobo Mexican Rice
adapted from Crepes of Wrath
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil (or vegetable/canola oil)
2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked
5 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped & seeded
1/2 anaheim pepper, roughly chopped & seeded
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup beer or water
salt, to taste
In a food processor or blender, process the can of tomatoes with juices, chopped bell pepper, chopped onion, chili powder, and chipotle chilies in adobo sauce.
Preheat a cast iron dutch oven over direct heat on a 350f grill. Add oil and allow to come until it just starts to smoke.
TIP: mise en place is not just for fancy kitchens, it's crucial for working on the grills.
Add the rice and saute about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
You know it's ready when it has a nutty aroma and turns translucent. Add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
Next add the tomato mixture, stock, and beer and bring to a simmer.
Once it begins simmering, switch to indirect heat.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Give it a stir about every 10 minutes.
While that is going on, now is a good time to grill your protein. I put the marinated flat iron steak on the other Egg at 450f and grilled at 450f for about 10 minutes.
Serve with wedges of lime and cilantro.
The adobo rice had a lot more kick than I expected since I really didn't think that 3 chipolte and 1/2 anaheim pepper are what I'd consider "hot". It was very flavorful and was excellent served in the fajita along with the steak and peppers. This makes a heck of a lot. The original recipe said 6 servings but it yielded more like 10-12 servings. That's okay, more for leftovers!
