Le Creuset asked me to come up with a one-pot recipe in their signature buffet casserole recently and so this chicken and rice pilaf with orange & spices came about. I’m not the biggest fan of one-pot cooking in general because rarely do proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables cook at the same time in the same way. I’m more of a purist and prefer to cook my rice and pasta separately to the meat and sauce. They can work with a vegetarian dish like an oven risotto and one-pot pilaf as long as you get all the exact ratios correct. I’ve been hard at work perfecting my technique for basmati rice recently, preferring the absorption method to the cooking and then streaming process. I wanted to pack as much flavour into this chicken and rice pilaf as possible so that all the deliciousness liquid gets sucked into the rice. The ingredient list might seem long but it’s really easy to make. I’ve amped up the orange flavour component with orange juice, orange zest and orange marmalade and this goes so well with the chicken and the earthy spices providing a warm base note. At the end of each year I round up my most delicious recipe and I already know this is going straight into the 2020 list.