Shirt sleeve weather here ahead of a big storm, but I’ll take it. Did a lot of cooking this week and even took some photos – don’t get used to it. Next week will be all about Super Bowl snack food, so come prepared with your favorite snack recipes. For tonight, it’s all about rice. From my blog:
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I love rice. It’s a staple in my diet. I especially like brown rice and was very excited when brown jasmine and brown basmati were available at my local store. I make a big batch and refrigerate it for the week. It’s easy to warm it for a simple side. It also makes a quick lunch – heat it up, add some nuts, ponzu sauce, or butter, maybe leftover veggies and yum.
While rice is usually considered a side dish, I love it as a main course. That’s what most of tonight’s recipes are, including the featured recipe, which was inspired by a bag of black rice given to me by a friend. She wasn’t sure what to do with it and thought for sure I would. I didn’t, but had some fun experimenting.
To start off, pictured above is my Pineapple Rice Bowl, the complete dinner menu, recipes and shopping list are here.
Then there is Wash Day Beans and Rice, recipe here.
JeffreyW gives a great review on his Rice Cooker, (click here) and then uses it to make Fried Rice, recipe here.
What’s on your menu for the weekend? Don’t forget to share your recipes, rice or otherwise, I’m always looking for something new.
Tonight’s featured recipe was inspired by a bag of black rice, also know as Emperor or Forbidden Rice, in my pantry. It’s a heritage grain and it has a complex flavor – it’s deep, nutty, savory, earthy. I had never even heard of it, much less tasted it. I cooked up a cup of it and it was love at first bite. But what to pair it with – it easily overwhelmed chicken and pork, and the flavors did not balance with beef. I did use it with some crumbled Spicy Italian sausage and that worked, the balance was right. What I thought it really needed was a citrus or vinegar pairing, some veggies, I wasn’t sure about nuts. Time to experiment.
Limes were on sale this week, so I settled on a citrus vinaigrette and fresh veggies paired with the rice (pictured above) for last night’s dinner and I think it worked out very well. Walnuts worked well, cashews were overwhelmed by the rice. I served it warm, but it was good cold today.
Black “Forbidden”Rice with Citrus Vinaigrette
- 1 cup black rice, rinsed
- 1-3/4 cups water
- snow peas (or veggie of your choice)
- tomatoes (grape tomatoes work well)
- toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup fresh limejuice
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- dash of orange juice
- pinch of lime zest
- dash of ground ginger
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- honey to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
saucepan, serving bowl
In the saucepan, add rice and water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer on low until all water is absorbed, about 40 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Cut snow peas into about four pieces each, half the grape tomatoes, and lightly chop the walnuts. (You’ll notice I had to settle for ripe on the vine tomatoes yesterday – no grapes to be found).
For the vinaigrette, whisk juices, vinegar, ginger and honey together. Drizzle in oil, whisking constantly. Give it a quick taste and add more ginger and honey as desired.
Toss rice and veggie mixture with vinaigrette and serve warm or refrigerate and serve cold.
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That’s it for this week. Next week pull out your favorite Super Bowl snack recipes and we’ll focus on those for the recipe exchange. Have a good weekend – TaMara
Big R
Where might one purchase black rice?
Nate Dawg
Italian Democrat Dinner
Ingredients:
1 – Stouffer’s Meat & Cheese Lasagna (Family Size)
Instructions:
* Pre-heat Oven to 400F
* Place Stouffer’s Lasagna on Center Rack
* Watch Rachel Maddow & half of Lawrence O’Donnell
* Remove Stouffer’s Lasagna, and allow to cool for 10 minutes
Enjoy!!
Baud
@Nate Dawg:
You forgot:
* Have bitter fight with family about whether the lasagna is good enough to eat.
p.a.
Broiled salmon head this week. Made a curry paste for it. $1.99/lb but probably only 1/4 lb. of meat including collar and cheeks. Lot of fat in the head that broiling didn’t really cook out; next time I’ll bake low & slow so it renders, just hope I don’t end up with salmon jerkey.
schrodinger's cat
Rice dishes that can be a meal in itself
Biryani with Lamb or chicken
Fish Biryani
Shrimp Pullao
Khichri ( mung dal and rice)
Eggplant rice
The list endless
Major Major Major Major
You know why they call it forbidden rice? The emperor liked it so much he forbade anybody else to eat it. What a dick.
JPL
@Baud: No kidding.. It’s mystery meat layered between cardboard.
p.a.
@Baud: No true Italian would take the side that Stouffers lasagna is edible.
Pogonip
Let’s have black rice and white asparagus!
Baud
@JPL:
@p.a.:
Lasagna purity trolls. I suppose you’ve figured out a way to get freshly made lasagna through a GOP Congress.
Aleta
@Baud:
* Leave the table angry.
Germy
Guyanese roti, advice and politics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1JSXVnq_Ns
A favorite in our house.
p.a.
@Baud:
Laxatives. SATSQ.
p.a.
@Aleta: But leave a tip.
Big R
@p.a.: Be careful in taking a wide stance after consuming lasagna.
Germy
@Baud:
We can’t have freshly-made lasagna in this country because all the Stouffer’s employees would be thrown out of work and destroy the economy.
We simply can’t afford it.
Aleta
@p.a.:
Tell spouse that tip was too big.
Baud
@Aleta: Hey-O
Aleta
@Baud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuFI5KSPAt4
Baud
@Aleta: Good song.
Felonius Monk
@p.a.:
Nor would any true Democrat. Only Republicans eat that sh*t.
PurpleGirl
@schrodinger’s cat: I love Biryani. And I love basmati rice. I sometimes have the basmati plain with just a little butter.
maeve
Thai Red Cargo rice is my favorite.
I once came back from a trip to Dallas (where I went to a huge Asian supermarket) with 20 lbs of rice in my luggage – 10 lbs red cargo rice, 5 lbs purple rice, 5 lbs black rice. Where I lived I couldn’t get any “exotic” rices.
Felonius Monk
Here’s some fine dinner music in memory of the Meal Team Six and their quest for nourishment.
schrodinger's cat
@PurpleGirl: Me too.
schrodinger's cat
@PurpleGirl: Dal and rice topped with ghee and some achar (Indian style pickles which are hot) is a pan-Indian staple.
p.a.
@efgoldman: Much production is outsourced but I believe the ‘processed cheese food substance’ is US made by Dow, with a formula stolen from duPont.
TaMara (BHF)
@Felonius Monk: I really want to front page that, it is so good, but feels in bad taste now that he’s dead. In the comments someone said it needed more dildos. I about spit diet coke on the keyboard.
Felonius Monk
@efgoldman:
Never understood why anyone would think a brand name like Franco-American would signify Italian food. The Franco-Prussian War was fought between France and Germany, not Italy and Germany. With Franco-American I would expect something like french toast in a can.
TaMara (BHF)
@schrodinger’s cat: Hey, don’t be giving a way all your rice recipes, I need something to link to next time. LOL.
benw
I make red quinoa, which also has a rich, nutty flavor, with ingredients very similar to your black rice, TaMara. I add walnuts, oil, vinegar, citruses, and some green onion. But instead of adding veggies, I just top it with slices of avocado and plain yogurt and it’s delicious!
Felonius Monk
@TaMara (BHF): I assume that song was done before the showdown yesterday. There is at least one other one out there written since yesterday making him out to be a hero. It’s pretty disgusting.
Doug R
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/01/how-much-arsenic-is-in-your-rice/index.htm
p.a.
Franco-American owned by Campbell’s, the name is mostly phased out. Chef Boyardee is Con-Agra, and still out there. Both were originally started by French & Italian immigrants respectively, as an expansion of restaurant business. They aren’t inventions of marketing depts as other food icons are.
schrodinger's cat
@TaMara (BHF): I only gave you the names, the recipes are in my head, not on my blog even!
I don’t think I have even seen shrimp pullao and eggplant rice in any cook books or any Indian restaurants in this country.
p.a.
@Doug R: Fuckin figures brown rice is high in arsenic since otherwise it’s the best for you.
IIRC jasmine is the worst re:glycemic index.
Hillary Rettig
That looks terrific TaMara. I’ve never had black rice; will have to see if the mr. can cook it.
TaMara (BHF)
@Doug R: Recommendations to reduce arsenic are to rinse the rice in hot water. Also if you cook it in a pot of water, like pasta, then drain and rinse again.
TaMara (BHF)
@Hillary Rettig: It was a revelation for this rice lover.
MattF
I loooove my rice cooker. Also a 3-cup Zojirushi, similar to JeffreyW’s, but not the induction type. Rice is my carb stable– I’ve got three big canisters on my kitchen counter– white (basmati) rice, brown (a mix of four types) rice, and a 50/50 mix of quinoa and barley.
Some people think cooking rice is trivial, others have a rice cooking problem– if you’re the type that has a rice cooking problem, get a rice cooker, STAT.
Calouste
@Big R:
Asian supermarkets. Upscale supermarkets like WholeFoods. Amazon.
chopper
i eat forbidden rice yes i do
they’re giving to everyone that means you
you can go to china and get some too
then you’ll have forbidden rice like i do
rikyrah
black rice?
hmmmmmmm
NotMax
Young woman from Japan who attends our Saturday night gatherings when she visits Maui twice a year brought a smallish bag of some ultra-special, ultra-rare yadda yadda yadda black rice grown there in limited quantities. Supposedly the Kobe beef of rice.
Served it with great fanfare and reverence.
Best any of us could muster was that yes, that is indeed rice.
Aleta
@chopper:
forbidden rice, oh
sure tastes good to me
forbidden rice, oh
I’ve got a recipe
SWMBO
@Felonius Monk: The date on the youtube is January 12. So it does precede this week’s incidents.
dianne
I had Carolina red rice once at a restaurant and so loved it that I’ve tried a few recipes off the internet. None measured up. Do you have a realy good, spicy version?