Try out this award-winning chicken, portabellini and rice one-pot wonder

The HTA School of Culinary Art’s Leroy Mguni took home a second-place finish in the Make Every Day Gourmet with the Magic of Mushrooms competition.

To clinch the second-place title, he made a delicious chicken, portabellini and rice one-pot wonder.

Want to try it out for yourself to see if your skills match Mguni’s winning cooking? Why not take a look at what it takes to make this dish that will serve six to eight people:

Ingredients
For the chicken:
• Two tablespoons of olive oil
• One teaspoon of turmeric
• One teaspoon of curry powder
• One teaspoon of onion powder
• One teaspoon of dried herbs
• One teaspoon of salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Six to eight chicken pieces, bone-in and skin on

For the rice:
• Two tablespoons of butter
• One teaspoon of olive oil
• One large onion, diced
• Four cloves of garlic, minced
• 250g portabellini mushrooms, sliced in half
• One green bell pepper, cubed
• One large tomato, seeded and diced
• One green chilli, sliced
• Four cups chicken stock, hot
• One and a half cups long grain rice

• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Fresh herbs, to garnish

Method
For the chicken:
• Rub the chicken generously with olive oil, spices and salt.
• Heat a large ovenproof buffet casserole pan or wide pot with a lid on medium-high heat. Brown the chicken pieces in a drizzle of olive oil. Pay special attention to getting a nice crispy skin. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 200°C.

For the rice:
• To start the rice, heat the olive oil and butter in the same pot/pan used to brown the chicken.
• Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté until tender. Add the garlic and portabellini mushrooms. Sauté for one to two minutes until golden. Add the green pepper, tomato, chilli and mix.
• Pour in the hot chicken stock and stir in the rice.
• Bring to a simmer.
• Carefully nestle the chicken pieces into the rice and stock without submerging the skin.
• Cover with a lid (or tin foil) and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 25 minutes until the rice is cooked and the chicken skin is golden and crisp.
• Fluff the rice with a fork, garnish with fresh herbs and serve straight out of the baking dish.