Press

Comfort Food at Home...and Away: One-Pot Wonder

Portland Monthly
Camas Davis
March 2007

Growing up in Fall River, Mass., David Machado mostly ate classic New England fare such as pot roast or franks-and-beans during the week. But once or twice a month his Irish mother made his favorite dish: a pot of Portuguese chicken and rice with chourico (pictured at right).

"My grandmother was Portuguese," says Machado, "and my mother wasn't a good cook, so my grandmother had to teach her how to make the dish. I didn't come from a home that served high cuisine, but I thought this was the one legitimate, credible dish we ate. I always asked for it. And now my three kids ask for it."

What's so comforting about the dish? "It's easy to make," replies Machado. "But to me it's really the rice that's comforting Ñ the starch. The chicken and the stock and the smoky sausage and sweet paprika and garlic all release their flavors into the rice. It's luscious. When you're done with your first serving, you just go back for more rice."

See Portuguese Chicken and Rice with Chourico in Lauro's Recipes section.