A word about Rice
The kind of rice I enjoy with Gumbos, Red Beans, Etouffee, etc., a lot of New Orleans Cuisine dishes, is a boilied rice. I like it because the grains stay seperate from one another, essentially, they let the main dish be the dish. Not that the rice is second fiddle, I just don't like an accompaniment rice where the grains are like glue. We're not making Sushi Rice, we don't want sticky rice. I have a pot of Red Beans on the stove (even though it's not Monday), and my rice is as important as my beans, which means, Very important! I take Red Beans & Rice very seriously. Not too seriously, nothing should be too serious, but I hold them in high esteem! more on Red Beans later. But this rice, which was inspired by the Commander's Palace cookbook, Commander's Kitchen (more on Commander's Palace later), is a great, simple, accompaniment rice. Not great because it's simple, just great! Real easy... 1 quart of Boiling water, to 1 cup of Rice. The goal here is not to absorb all of the liquid into the rice. The goal is to make the rice tender, and drain the rice! I use Uncle Ben's original rice, you know, converted long grain, parboiled. I just think it's a great product. I'll put this in recipe format. I don't believe in hoarding recipes. Share man!
Creole Boiled Rice
1 quart of Boiling Water
1 Cup Uncle Ben's Rice
4 Fresh Bay Leaves (If you have to use dried, do so, but damn..... the fresh are so much better!)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter (Optional)
Bring the water to a boil with the bay leaves. Add the salt. Add the rice, stir to make sure the rice doesn't stick! Do Not Stir again! If you agitate the rice too much, it gets sticky! So give it a good stir, when it comes back to a boil, partially cover it. Cook for about 11 minutes, but taste it, don't trust me! It should have some bite, but a crunch is bad! When finished, drain it, pluck out the bay leaves, if desired place it into a 400 degree oven with the butter patted on top of it; this helps dry the rice out. ( I don't always do this, it's up to you)
I love this rice, I love the fragrance the bay leaves give the finished dish! It's simple and it's a great accompaniment rice! I use this for my Gumbos, Etouffees, Red Beans, etc, etc.. I hope you enjoy it!
Creole Boiled Rice
1 quart of Boiling Water
1 Cup Uncle Ben's Rice
4 Fresh Bay Leaves (If you have to use dried, do so, but damn..... the fresh are so much better!)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter (Optional)
Bring the water to a boil with the bay leaves. Add the salt. Add the rice, stir to make sure the rice doesn't stick! Do Not Stir again! If you agitate the rice too much, it gets sticky! So give it a good stir, when it comes back to a boil, partially cover it. Cook for about 11 minutes, but taste it, don't trust me! It should have some bite, but a crunch is bad! When finished, drain it, pluck out the bay leaves, if desired place it into a 400 degree oven with the butter patted on top of it; this helps dry the rice out. ( I don't always do this, it's up to you)
I love this rice, I love the fragrance the bay leaves give the finished dish! It's simple and it's a great accompaniment rice! I use this for my Gumbos, Etouffees, Red Beans, etc, etc.. I hope you enjoy it!
posted by Danno | 12/08/2004 03:43:00 PM
4 Comments:
This is the way I cook rice, too but never thought of adding the bay leaf..Thanks
There is a much better and foolproof way to cook this rice.
Take one cup of rice. Using a pot which has a tight fitting lid, place the one cup of rice in the pot, add two cups of water and 1 tablespoon salt. (Add bay leasf if you like.) Do not stir! Bring to a good boil then cover with the lid and placing the heat on Low, continue cooking about 15-20 minutes. You will have perfect rice everytime. If you want to make more rice, you just double the amount of water, another words, 2 cups of rice, 4 cups of water, 2 tbs. salt, same way to cook...bring to a boil, than cover and simmer on Low until done.
If you are using white rice, wash & rinse it 3 times in a pan of COLD water. Stir well for 20 seconds each time. This will eliminate the surface starch & you will never have sticky rice again. For brown once or twice is sufficient.
I personally found this rice and the red beans recipe to die for. I hate bay leaves, but I must admit that they give an nice "fresh" type of flavor to the rice.
Also wanted to point out that following the directions on the bag of rice isn't "foolproof" and does result in sticky rice. I found this method way easier and fluffier.....I would much rather set my timer and drain the water off than worry about whether or not my rice will stick to the pot. To each his own, but the recipe is awesome as written. Thanks!
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