Arroz con Pollo, Honduran Style

On my first mission trip to Honduras to help cook for the Honduran Women's Bible Conference, a dear lady named Julia, made this amazing dish.  I have never seen so much of one entree!  One of the pots took two people to carry!  The women devoured this delicious dish which was new to me and something I wanted very much to learn to make.

Last  year, one of the women, Mary Gagnon, wrote down the recipe from her years of observing the women making it and her own practice.  This year, I will be taking Julia's place in preparing this entree to serve to the women, so I have begun practicing.  I am already thankful that there will be help from at least four Honduran women to do the chopping of the fresh veggies for the quantity we will need to feed 168.  They dice the veggies into 1/4" cubes and chat away while doing it.  I guess these chopping "parties" are similar to a stamping, scrapbooking or other crafting party here in the States.

Mary's recipe below made a wok worth of Arroz con Pollo.  I've added a few tweaks to make it easier.

Boil 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts with 1/2 medium size onion, chopped, and 1 tsp. minced garlic..   I prefer to use the crock-pot for this and cook the breasts for about 4-5 hours for perfect shredding.  Cool the breasts, saving the broth, and shred the meat.  Set aside.

Add enough canned broth to the fresh to make 3 and 3/4 cups.  Set aside.

Par-boil 2 cups of rice, drain the water. For this I like to use the Pampered Chef rice cooker which works in the microwave.

Melt one stick of butter in a wok over medium heat.  A wok is nice as the rice will need room to expand.

Add the following to the wok:
the rice
2 C carrots cut into 1/4" cubes (about 5-6 small-medium carrots)
2 C raw green beans (about 1/2 lb.), cut small like carrots
1 C chopped onion
1 C chopped celery
1 C chopped sweet pepper (this is optional)
2 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 T cumin
6 cubes of chicken bouillon (or equivalent of Better than Bouillon)

Cook in the butter for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Add these ingredients to the wok and mix well.
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T Soy Sauce
3 3/4 cups chicken broth
the chicken, shredded

Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes after it starts to simmer.
Add 2/3 C chopped cilantro and mix.  Return cover and cook for 10 more minutes or until rice is soft.
Turn off heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes so remaining liquid can be absorbed.