Monday, May 5, 2008

Best. Rice. Ever.

Those of you who have been paying attention know what Alex and I are having for dinner tonight - chicken chili - tasty, not-too-spicy, extra bean-y chicken chili. I thought I would take a moment again tonight to sing the praises of Cook's Illustrated.

One of the ways in which Alex and I like to feel better about ourselves is to eat brown rice with dinner. It's tasty, satisfying and pretty good for you. Unfortunately for the rice-cooking impaired (a.k.a. us), it doesn't always turn out perfect. That is until Alex discovered the special edition, only available in stores (or probably on Cook's Illustrated's website) Cook's Illustrated Light Recipes. In it, you'll find an amazingly simple method for making perfect brown rice in the oven. Of course, I will share it with you, because I like you, because you like me enough to read my blog, all 5* of you.

FOOLPROOF BROWN RICE
From Cook's Illustrated Light Recipes

INGREDIENTS
1.5 c long-, medium-, or short-grain brown rice
2.5 c water
1 tbsp olive oil
0.5 tsp salt

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread rice in 8-inch square glass baking dish.
2. Bring water and oil to boil, covered, in medium saucepan over high heat; once boiling, immediately stir in salt and pour water over rice. Cover baking dish tightly with doubled layer of foil. Bake rice 1 hour, until tender.
3. Remove baking dish from oven and uncover. Fluff rice with dinner fork, then cover dish with clean kitchen towel; let rice stand 5 minutes. Uncover and let rice stand 5 minutes longer; serve immediately.

Serves 6 (we often double the recipe and use a 13x9 inch baking dish)

* I've upgraded my audience count to 5. You may have noticed. Alex reads for fear that I'll one day say something crazy about him. Candace and Katey were kind enough to leave me comments, so they are counted. I know my friend Tracy at least knows the address of my blog, since she gave me a virtual shout-out by adding me to her list of friends' blogs on her blog. And I assume my mom reads, because she's my mom and mom's are supposed to love us enough to read our blogs. I'm no longer counting Chris, because recently I've shifted from Chris-centric to cooking-centric and that just doesn't work for him. Patrick is too busy enjoying his last week of college to read.

1 comment:

  1. So I have been totally delinquent in writing and reading since I couldn't figure out your secret signature symbol, or rather the route of your pacific excursion. I must say, I am so impressed with your incorporation of multiple hobbies on the site... you have your book binding, cooking and enjoying good food, stock-company analysis, and of course fabulous photographs of what you have made! I might actually get Mark to try your brown rice solution tonight (he has to cook for us since I am tutoring at the projects until 8 or so). We are off to Denver for a wedding, but I will definitely share my reviews of your recipes when I return! Keep counting me in your list of readers!

    ReplyDelete