Rice Pilaf p. 460

This is a simple post for a Wednesday.

Melt butter or heat olive oil over medium heat. Throw in your rice so they get a nice coating of fat and wait until they start to change colors to a nice bronzey color. I used basmati rice because I was serving an Indian chicken dish over it. (Hopefully to post tomorrow.) Salt and pepper and then add water. Cover and let simmer until the rice is done and liquid is gone. Let the rice sit off heat for 15 to 30 minutes before serving. I'm not sure why, the book just says so, okay?

Fried Rice with Shrimp p. 468-470

Ingredients: endless possibilities

I've been on an oriental theme kick lately. I'm not sure why exactly. Bryan loves anything with rice, maybe thats why we've had rice with what feels like the last twenty meals. Oh well... all have been delicious.

Mark Bittman goes into great length with various tips, additions, and variations to make your own fried rice.

One great tip is to make your rice ahead of time. I only had time to cook mine about an hour before "frying" it. Which worked okay, but leftover rice is really the best.

We used rice, frozen peas, garlic, ginger, eggs, soy, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and seasame oil.



Bryan was impressed that I had made it myself and I thought it was a great, easy, fast comfort meal. Perfect for a weak night. The best part is that you can probably make this without even having to go to the store. You can use whatever you happen to have in your freezer, fridge, or pantry.

Rice Pilaf, Mexican Rice with Vegetables p. 460-161

Brief description: Rice cooked with carrots, celery, and other miscellaneous vegetables you feel like adding or have on hand. Garnished with cilantro.

Bryan loves rice. I’ve said that before. I just can’t reiterate how much he likes rice, okay? To go with our tamales, we had rice. Mexican rice. The original rice pilaf recipe has Seven Ways as part of the title. But naturally with tamales we’d opt for the Mexican version.

The Mexican version calls for 1/3 cup of carrots, celery, bell pepper, green beans, or peas. I interpret that to be whatever you like and have on hand. I left out onions, but added carrots, celery, and frozen English peas. And I didn’t measure. I did one onion, one celery stock, and the little amount of peas we had left.

I was slightly disappointed that there wasn’t more extensive seasonings other than salt and pepper. Hmm… maybe our “Mexican” we have in Memphis isn’t very authentic. But overall it was a nice rice dish without too much work. Just make sure that you remember to set your timer or watch the clock. In my exhaustion post-tamale making I forgot to set a timer, leaving a few pieces slightly burned. But it didn’t totally ruin the dish.


Mexican rice served with Tamales