One of the hardest things about being an expat is getting used to the food culture of our new country. While I love most things about Switzerland—oh my God the cheese and chocolate—there is no decent Mexican food to be found. So rather than spend a ton of money on something that a restaurant calls an enchilada–actually some weird, bland sauce drenched burrito—I decided to learn to make more of my favorite Mexican dishes from scratch. It took a little bit of tinkering, advice from my Mexican friends on Facebook, and YouTube scouting, but I feel fairly confident that my arroz con pollo with fresh tortillas is a good substitute for what I could find at my favorite restaurant in California. So without further ado, I hope you will enjoy my gringa hybrid version of this Mexican classic.

Note: The YouTube video offered a good jumping off point for me. I don’t usually stick to recipes, but read them and alter to my tastes. By watching first I could figure out the process, and then develop my own tweaks and techniques. My version takes about a half hour to make. For the tortillas, I linked the tastiest and easiest recipe I found above. I do not have a tortilla press, and make mine on a pastry mat spread over my kitchen table and hand-roll them out. They are delicious and imperfect, but everyone who I’ve made them for loves them. I make them ahead of the chicken and store in a bowl covered with a towel to stay warm and fresh.

Ingredients (calculated to serve 2-4 people depending on appetite):
For the rice-
• 1 chopped white or yellow onion
o See this video link for quick chopping tips
• 2 cloves minced or grated garlic
o If you don’t have fresh garlic you can substitute 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
• 2 teaspoons butter or olive oil
• 1 bag precooked white or brown rice
o You can use regular long grain rice, but this is a faster alternative.
• ½ cup chicken stock or vegetable, or hot water with a bouillon cube dissolved into it
• 1 small can chopped tomatoes in sauce
o If you are in the US, I love to use Rotel tomatoes and chili for a slightly spicier dish. If you do use the Rotel omit the cayenne pepper.
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• a dash of cayenne pepper
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

Stage 1: Heat a large frying pan over medium low heat. Once the pan is hot, melt your butter and toss in the chopped onions. Let the onions sauté until translucent, but not browned; depending on the temperature of your stove this takes between 5-10 minutes. Add in garlic, and sauté for a minute more.

Stage 2: While the rice is still in the bag, break it up with your fingers a bit. Next, tear it open and mix around with the onions, stock, tomatoes, and all seasonings and turn up the heat to medium. After a minute or two you should have a nice simmer. Place in the chicken breast tenders, and push them into the rice so they are submerged and can soak up the flavors. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and let the magic happen. I check on it in 5 minutes for a quick stir, and you will do this until the rice has absorbed 99% of the liquids. Turn of the heat, and break up the chicken into smaller pieces using a spoon. Serve immediately with fresh tortillas. It is nice to have some toppings selections too, so I place small bowls of guacamole and sour cream or Greek yogurt out. On the side my family prefers refried or black beans, chips and salsa and of course margaritas.

Easy fresh salsa-
• 4 ripe chopped tomatoes
• ½ white or yellow onion roughly chopped
• 1 clove roughly chopped garlic 1
• ¼ chopped jalapeño pepper
o Remove the seeds and ribs for less spice.
• Juice of one lime
• Pinch salt and pepper
• Small handful of chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Stage 1: Put all ingredients in a blender of food processor and whirl it around until it is all well combined. If you prefer a smoother salsa pulse it a few extra times. Store in the fridge for at least a half hour to let the flavors combine.