Middle Eastern Chicken and Rice

This dish is popular all over the Middle East. It can be made with lamb, beef, or chicken. Everyone eats it with a large dollop of plain yogurt.

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts, bone-in skin-on
½ lb ground beef
2 cups long grain rice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp black pepper
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp salt
2 Cardamom Pods
2 whole cloves
1/2 lemon, cut in half
1/2 onion, cut in half
1 stick cinnamon
2 bay leaves
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup slivered almonds
4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Preparation:
Place chicken breasts in a large pot over medium-high heat and cover with water. When the water comes to a boil, a layer of foam forms on the top. Remove and discard. Add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, 1 tsp salt, lemon and onion quarters. Cover the pot and lower the heat to medium-low and let simmer for an hour.
Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a large pot and toast the nuts until lightly golden. Remove the nuts from the oil with the help of a large perforated spoon and set aside.
Add the ground beef to the oil and brown well. Stir in the ground cinnamon, allspice, black pepper and nutmeg. Add the rice to the beef mixture and toast for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat after the rice is toasted after the 5 minutes.
When the chicken is done cooking, take the meat off the bones and discard the bones and skin.
Add 3 1/2 cups of the hot chicken stock to the rice, season with remaining salt and place pot over medium-low heat. Cover with a tight lid and let simmer until all liquid is evaporated and rice is fluffy (add more stock if needed).
Enjoy the rice with chunks of chicken on top and toasted nuts.

Serves 6