Delia's Chicken Basque

Having been stuck in dreadful traffic jams after a shopping trip with Rachel and friends yesterday, I was late in getting home to prepare a meal for friends coming. I walked through the front door, dropped my shopping and literally through this meal together. It's wonderful. It's a favourite recipe of mine from Delia's Summer Collection, and one I did regularly at one time. I love the fact it's all in one pot and it is full of flavour as the wine, the chorizo and chicken flavours are absorbed into the rice. A good one for my sister in law to try when she is in Spain this week. I will certainly be cooking it when we go there this month.

Ingredients
Serves 4
a 1.75kg chicken jointed into 8 pieces ( I used a pack of 4 chicken breasts and a pack of thighs, both halved)
2 large red peppers, sliced 1 very large or 2 medium onions, sliced
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
150g chorizo, skinned and cut into small slices
50g sundried tomatoes in oil
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
½ level teaspoon of hot paprika
1 tablespoon of tomato puree 
225ml brown basmati rice
275ml chicken stock or stock made from bouillon vegetable powder
a large orange cut into wedges
170ml of dry white wine
1 level teaspoon of fresh herbs (I didn't have any)
50g black olives
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Start by seasoning the chicken joints well with salt and pepper. Next, slice the red peppers in half and remove the seeds and pith, then slice each half into six strips. Likewise, peel the onion and slice into strips of approximately the same size. The dried tomatoes should be drained, wiped dry with kitchen paper and then cut into ½ inch pieces.
Now heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in the casserole and, when it is fairly hot, add the chicken pieces – two or three at a time – and brown them to a nutty golden colour on both sides. As they brown remove them to a plate lined with kitchen paper, using a draining spoon. Next add a little more oil to the casserole, with the heat slightly higher than medium. As soon as the oil is hot, add the onion and peppers and allow them to brown a little at the edges, moving them around from time to time, for about 5 minutes.
After that, add the chorizo, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic and toss these around for a minute or two until the garlic is pale golden and the chorizo has taken on some colour. Next, stir in the rice and, when the grains have a good coating of oil, add the sun-dried tomato paste, paprika and chopped thyme. Pour in the stock and wine, and add some seasoning. As soon as everything has reached simmering point, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Add a little more seasoning, then place the chicken gently on top of everything (it's important to keep the rice down in the liquid). Finally, place the wedges of orange in among the chicken and scatter with the olives.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook over the gentlest possible heat for about 50 minutes-1 hour or until the rice is cooked but still retains a little bite. Alternatively cook in a pre-heated oven at 180°C, for 1 hour. (I checked after 50 minutes and it was cooked)

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