On Heritage, Resilience & Comfort Food

One of the blessings of this time set apart in self-isolation is that my girl seems to be living my childhood. Stores closed in the evenings and on Sundays. Lots of time at home, riding bikes around the neighbourhood, trying to do cartwheels, no rushing to after school lessons or juggling competing activities, and slowing down the pace of our family life.

I kind of like it.

When I was a kid, Sundays were my favourite. Often, my Great Aunt would come over after church, and play Ad-Lib with my mom. She’d bring carrot salad and mom would make dinner in the oven. A beef roast or a pork roast, or, one of our favourites – Great Grandma Susanna’s Chicken & Rice.

This chicken & rice? It’s a recipe of resilience, friends. Perfect for this time.

I grew up hearing stories of how my father’s family had fled from their village near Odessa during the Russian Revolution, lost everything they owned, and started again across North America. Great Grandma Susanna’s chicken and rice is a recipe that, family history says, came with her from Russia to the Canadian prairies and was a Sunday staple in our home. I never knew my Great Grandmother, but, having eaten her food over my lifetime I feel that in a way, I do. (When a relative told me that my version of Russian Cotleta & mushroom sauce – another one that I just know by heart – tastes just like Great Grandma’s, it was the best.)

Recipes, and the memories that shared meals carry, help our stories live on. Today, this recipe is comfort food to nourish my own family. And my girl who carries Susanna as a middle name knows her heritage through food.

This is a delicious, comfort food recipe, especially on a grey day! Feel free to make it your own – it has likely had many variations over the last century of being shared. It’s only 5 ingredients (plus salt & pepper), 7 steps, and really easy-peasy for a weekend (or a work-from-home weekday) meal – which means that you can actually play a game, relax and enjoy your family.

Grandma Susanna’s Chicken & Rice

Serves 4 (with lunch leftovers)

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
14 – 16 allspice berries
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups chicken stock OR the equivalent bouillon (we use Better Than Bouillon Chicken) and 3 cups boiling water (for some reason, the bouillon version is tastier)
2 – 3 lbs of chicken pieces, bone-in, skin-on (basically, the amount your family will eat, for the meal and for whatever leftovers you would like – extra fat trimmed off.) Our family prefers chicken thighs, but use what you like!
Seasoned Salt (Lawry’s is MSG-free)
Pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Lightly grease a large baking dish. I use a stoneware roaster that is 9” x 13” x 3”.
Combine the rice, allspice berries, onion and chicken stock in the pan.
Place chicken pieces evenly around the pan, on top of the rice mixture.
Sprinkle generously with seasoned salt & pepper.
Cover with tinfoil, shiny side down, and bake for 1 hour.
After an hour, remove the tin foil so that the chicken can brown – approx. 30-45 minutes. The water should have fully evaporated & the chicken should be golden brown – and hopefully, you’ve got some yummy crispy rice around the edges of the pan – they’re what we all want in our house. Oh, and don’t eat the allspice berries. Just discard them as you eat dinner. If you accidentally eat one, you’ll know why.