Basmati And Wild Rice Pilaf With Roasted Nuts Food

BASMATI RICE PILAF

Steps:

• In a wide pan with a lid (like this one, this one, or this one), melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and just starting to brown, about five minutes. While onion cooks, rinse rice in a fine-mesh sieve until the water runs clear and shake out any excess water.
• Add garlic to pan and cook, stirring, until very fragrant, about a minute. Add rice and stir to coat with butter, then cook, stirring once or twice, for two minutes. Pour in stock and give it all a good stir. Bring to a boil over high heat. Then cover pan, lower heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook until broth is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Off the heat, place a clean kitchen towel between the pan and the lid to absorb excess steam and let pilaf rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chives and almonds if using and serve.

BASMATI RICE PILAF WITH DRIED FRUITS AND ALMONDS

Steps:

• Place the rice in a medium bowl and add enough water to cover by 2 inches. Using your hands, gently swish the grains to release any excess starch. Carefully pour off the water, leaving the rice in the bowl. Repeat four to five times, until the water runs almost clear. Using a fine mesh strainer, drain the water from rice. Place the strainer over a bowl and set aside.
• Melt the butter in a pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, until softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add the cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Add the rice to the pot, and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes. Add the water, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Off the heat, remove the lid and sprinkle the dried fruit over the rice (do not mix in). Place the lid over the pot and let stand for 10 minutes. Toss in the toasted almonds, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.

WILD RICE PILAF WITH NUTS AND LEMON

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts, garlic, zest, and thyme, swirl the pan until the nuts and garlic are beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the wild rice and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until lightly toasted, about 1 minute tops. Stir in the chicken broth and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a rapid simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check the texture of the rice and, if needed, continue simmering until tender. Add more liquid as needed, another 10 to 15 minutes. (Note: The rice should only just begin to crack when done. If it begins to curl it is overcooked. There are numerous varieties of varying qualities, which affect cooking times greatly.)
• Remove from the heat, scatter the scallions over the surface, fluff with a fork, and remove the herb sprigs and lemon zest before serving. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.

WILD RICE PILAF

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan, add the onion, and cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add 5 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of salt, and the wild rice. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer, covered, for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the rice is tender. Drain well.
• Place the drained rice in a bowl, add the remaining tablespoon of butter, the scallions, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Taste for seasonings and serve hot.

BASMATI RICE PILAF

Steps:

• Heat chicken stock in a saucepan until boiling; keep hot until ready to use.
• Heat vegetable oil in a 2 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onion and bay leaf in the hot oil until onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
• Stir basmati rice into onion mixture until rice is coated with oil.
• Pour hot chicken stock into the rice mixture. Season with salt; stir.
• Bring rice mixture to a boil; cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue simmering until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
• Remove saucepan from heat and discard bay leaf. Add butter and fluff the rice with a fork.

BASMATI RICE PILAF

Steps:

• To wash or not to wash rice? In the case of basmati, no matter what my preparation is, I always wash it. It cleans out any small particles and it also rids the rice of any starch on the grain. This starch makes the rice gummier when cooked.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• In a medium bowl, add the rice and 4 cups of cold water. Soak the rice for 1/2 hour.
• In a small bowl, add the cumin seeds, cardamom, fennel seeds, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Turn the mixture out onto a baking sheet and put it in the center of the oven to lightly toast the spices and awaken the flavors, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the spices to cool.
• Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat and add the butter and the onion. Season with salt and cook until the onions are translucent but not brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the spices. Drain the rice but reserve the soaking water. Stir in the rice and cook until you hear the rice crackling, about 2 minutes. Gently stir in the reserved soaking water. Season with a generous portion of salt and bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat.
• Cook the rice over medium-low heat, uncovered and undisturbed, for about 8 minutes. Take a fork (so as not to damage the rice) and flake a few grains off to taste for doneness. It may need to be cooked another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the rice to "rest" (as you would a roast beef) for 10 minutes before "forking" it gently into a serving bowl. Stir in 3 tablespoons of butter, if desired, and serve.

SPICED BASMATI RICE PILAF

Steps:

• Prepare the rice: Soak the rice in 3 cups cold water for 30 minutes to remove the starch.
• Cook the rice: Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat and add butter, onions, and 2 tablespoons water. Cook until translucent but not browned, 5 to 8 minutes. To the pan add cardamom seeds, cayenne, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves. Stir, and toast until fragrant, 2 minutes. Then, add the rice plus soaking liquid to the pot. Add salt to taste. Bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Cover, turn off the heat, and let steam for another 10 minutes. Fluff the rice gently with a fork and serve.

SAFFRON RICE PILAF

Steps:

• Soften saffron in hot water (2 tablespoons) in a small bowl.
• Heat oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Fry almonds, stirring frequently, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• Fry onion in oil remaining in pot, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer half of onion to a bowl.
• Add rice to onion in pot and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add water (4 1/2 cups), saffron mixture, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until water is absorbed and rice is tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Let rice stand, covered, off heat 5 minutes.
• While rice stands, stir almonds and currants into bowl with onion.
• Fluff rice with a fork and serve with almond mixture spooned on top.

WILD RICE AND MUSHROOM PILAF

Steps:

• Combine wild rice, brown rice, and beef broth in a 3-quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to Low. Cover and simmer 50-55 minutes until rice is tender.
• Meanwhile, slice mushrooms. Chop shallot. Chop (or crush) garlic.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over Medium heat. Saute shallots 3 minutes. Stir in garlic; add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Saute 4 minutes or until mushrooms are dark and tender.
• When rice is finished cooking, toss mushroom mixture with rice and serve while hot.
• Special note: The recipe originally says to drain the rice. I've never had any extra liquid to drain, but I use a different rice as well. To make the recipe easier for me I bought a rice mixture at my store called "Royal Blend". I highly recommend it since it contains Texmati white, brown, wild, and red rice. This might be the reason no draining is necessary. If you are able to find this rice and buy it, use 1 1/2 cups of it instead of the 3/4 cup of both rice.

BASMATI AND WILD RICE PILAF WITH ROASTED NUTS

Steps:

• 1. Place the wild rice in a medium saucepan, add 1 1\4 cups water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and cook until the all the water is absorbed and the rice is soft, about 40 minutes.2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, soak the basmati rice in the remaining 2 cups water about 30 minutes. In a small skillet, dry-roast the peanuts, almonds, and sesame seeds, roasting each separately because they cook at different rates. Then, mix them all together and save for garnish.3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the cumin seeds they should sizzle upon contact with the hot oil. Quickly add the cinnamon, cardamom pods, and red chili peppers and cook, stirring about 1 minute.4. Add the bay leaves and the garlic and cook, stirring, another minute. Add the cooked wild rice, the basmati rice, plus all the water it was soaking in, and the salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to lowest heat setting, cover the pan (partially at first, until the foam subsides, then snugly), and cook until the rice is done, 10 to 15 minutes. (Do not stir the rice while it cooks.) Let the rice rest about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, gently mix in the roasted nuts and sesame seeds, with some of them visible as a garnish, and serve.From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

WILD RICE PILAF WITH PORCINI, CRANBERRIES & TOASTED ALMONDS

Steps:

• In a medium pot, combine wild rice, ¾ cup chicken broth and 1 tablespoons butter; bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes.
• Place porcini in a small bowl, add enough water to cover and soak for 30 minutes. In a small skillet on medium heat, toast almonds; remove from the heat and set aside. Place basmati rice in a fine sieve over a bowl and rinse until water is no longer cloudy; let it drain. After 30 minutes, drop porcini in a fine sieve and let it drain.
• After 40 minutes, add basmati to wild rice. Pour the remaining broth (1 ½ cups), give a good stir and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
• In another pot over medium heat, add butter. When melted, add onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add porcini, making sure to leave dirt behind, and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Pour in white wine and cook until almost evaporate; stir and remove from the heat.
• When rice is cooked, add porcini mixture, cranberries and toasted almonds; season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Give a good stir, cover, remove from the heat and let the rice rest for 5 minutes before serving. For the final touch, sprinkle chopped parsley for each bowl.