Chicken and Rice with Mushrooms

I meant brown the chicken. Oooops!

Because this is such a simple recipe there is a lot of room for interpretation. When cooking chicken season to your taste. Unless you are cooking a breast and leg the chicken is not as flavorful. Season at least 30 mins or more before cooking. To add more flavor, brown the rice using a teaspoon of brown sugar. Add the sugar to the coating of oil and stir until caramelized, then coat and soften onions. Next add the chicken. The oven should already be preheated to 375 for shorter cook time. Warm the oven pan in the oven so when you transfer the chicken it stays hot. Rinse the mushrooms, slice and place some in oven pan, then place browned chicken in oven pan and pour all juices and onion from the browning over the chicken and rest of the mushrooms. Bake for 35 mins turning once. The rice, as suggested should be cooked with chicken broth, great idea!  Make it your own and have fun! *Brown rice takes at least an hour to cook, although healthy not the best for a hungry crew.

"A small amount of dried porcini mushrooms goes a long way. Using the reconstituted mushrooms and their soaking liquid gives this one-dish meal a rich, earthy flavor" this means it tastes a lot like dirt!! Tried it again without the porcini mushrooms and it was delish!!

I read all of the horrible reviews for this, but I was determined to make it anyway. Instead of brown rice, I used Thai Jasmine rice and cooked it with chicken broth to add flavor. I think this helped tremendously. I would have used brown rice/chicken broth, but my husband doesn't like brown rice. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs, and I think the thigh meat would have been better. I seasoned the chicken with some adobo and paprika, and it had decent flavor. I added extra seasonings to the rice itself, and it wasn't a bad dish overall, just boring. It was a satisfying, quick weeknight meal. I wouldn't say it was anything special. Also, since I used the white rice, the dish cooked faster.

I decided to try this recipe even though the ratings weren't good. I had some leftover chicken breast to use up. Left out the porcinis because I don't like them but followed the rest of the recipe closely. Skipped the step for cooking the chicken and used chicken broth for liquid to cook the rice adding the cubed chicken at the end to heat it up. Good solid recipe particularly for using leftovers. Would make this again as a family dinner.

This has potential as a starting point, but definitely needs some changes. I made it by recipe the first time and it was just 'ok'. The second time around I used chicken breast tenders and sprinkled them with smoked paprika. Used low sodium chicken broth to soak the dried mushrooms - definitely adds more flavor dimension. Also needs garlic, and the addition of some fresh herbs. I used parsley and tarragon, but I think rosemary would also be a nice addition, or maybe basil and oregano. Also, my family prefers the vegies on the side. The peas just didn't add anything but color to the recipe in my opinion.

I agree that the recipe made as written is bland tasting, but I think it has potential. Next time I make it I will sprinkle the chicken with smoked paprika for more flavor and I will add more salt to the dish overall. Also, I liked the previous suggestion of adding chicken stock instead of, or in addition to, the porcini water. Garlic would be a definite addition, and also maybe some white wine to deglaze the pan before adding the liquid. My family liked the recipe overall, and with a few tweaks, I think it has potential. Question: did anyone have the rice soak up all the liquid before the cooking time suggested in the recipe was finished? I kept having to add water (contributing to the bland flavor) and the cooking time was 10 minutes less than directed. Not necessarily a bad thing considering the long cook time. Otherwise, the recipe turned out fine, and the texture of all the ingredients was good.

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In my opinion, this dish lacked flavor and took WAY too long to prepare. My family loves mushrooms (and rice and chicken), so I thought this would be a good, healthy addition to the repertoire, but I would not make this again, at least in any way that would be recognizable as it's currently written. If you're interested in trying this recipe, I'd recommend the following: (1) Use chicken breast. It takes FOREVER to remove the fat from the thighs, and I don't think using dark meat adds that much flavor. (2) Marinate the chicken in something -- this recipe leaves the chicken very bland. Beccaroo's suggestion of soy sauce might be good here. Or maybe a combo of olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced thyme/rosemary? (3) Add garlic with the onions and creminis (or maybe in the chicken marinade), because hey, everything is better with garlic, and this recipe could use all the help it can get. (4) Add more salt. Seriously, a 1/4 t for all the veggies and rice?? That's ridiculous.

First of all, make sure you read the instructions and realize how long this recipe takes beforehand. I had set this recipe aside and started to make it one night as hunger was setting in on us, however was really disappointed when I realized that it wouldn't be ready until almost an hour later. No way we could wait that long, so we pretty much ditched the recipe and did our own thing. We used most of the same ingredients, but used quick cooking rice and turned this in to a 20 minute meal. We also added soy sauce, which really upped the flavor.