Brown Rice

Bring to a boil at least four cups of water for every cup of brown rice you plan to cook. Exact measurements are not necessary. 

Rinse the rice in a colander for 30 seconds. 

Boil, uncovered, on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, 

Remove from heat, pour rice and water into colander, let drain for 10 seconds. 

Put the rice back into the pot, away from the burner, cover tightly for 10 minutes. 

Fluff with a fork, add salt as needed. 

It took me so many years to learn this simple method.

New England Rice Pudding

This recipe comes from Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow Cook Book.

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups of milk, scalded

3/4 cup of rice, cooked

Cinnamon

Mix the first four ingredients until well blended, then add the milk. Pour into a buttered casserole, then add the rice and stir. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Set the casserole in a large pan and pour about an inch of hot water around it (in the large pan, not in the casserole). Bake at 350° about 30 minutes until the pudding is set and beginning to brown on top.

Serve warm or cold. It's nice with a little whipped cream on top.

Basic Fried Rice

Ben has been reminding me to be sure to add this recipe. It comes from Chinese Cookery, by Rose Cheng and Michele Morris. 

This truly is a basic recipe. You can add any number of vegetables that have been stir-fried--carrots, sugar peas, etc.--and any kind of leftover meat, cut into small pieces. Shrimp would be good, too!

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

5 tbl. peanut or olive oil

1 cup chopped green onions

4 cups cold cooked rice

2 tbl. chicken broth

3 tbl. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. sesame oil

Beat eggs and salt in a small bowl. Heat 2 tbl. oil in a wok over medium heat for one minute. Pour in the beaten eggs. Stir continuously until eggs are cooked dry and separated into small pieces. Remove cooked eggs from wok and set aside. 

Heat 3 tbl. oil in wok over medium high heat for one minute. Add green onions and rice and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, remaining salt (taste first!) and soy sauce. Stir to mix well. 

Stir in cooked eggs, pepper, and sesame oil. 

Serve hot. Makes 4 to 6 servings. 

Arancini (Rice Balls)

This recipe comes from Jeff Smith's The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine.

2 cups short-grain rice
1 quart homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup (1/4 pound) butter, melted
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated cheese (Parmesan or Romano)
2 eggs, well beaten
1/4 pound lean ground beef
1/4 pound lean ground pork
1/2 cup each (diced, about 1/4 inch): Genoa salami,mortadella,provolone cheese,mozzarella cheese
2 additional beaten eggs for dipping
2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs for coating
Peanut oil for deep-frying

Wash and drain the rice and place in a 2-quart saucepan which can be covered. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil, uncovered. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover, simmering for 20 minutes, and then remove from heat and leaving covered for another 20 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, stir into the rice the melted butter, parsley, parmesan or romano and the beaten eggs. Gently but thoroughly blend and leave to cool.

In a skillet, saute together the ground pork and beef. Drain off any fat and cool. Add to this the diced coldcuts and cheeses, mixing all together well by hand.

With moist, but not wet hands, form a ball of the rice mixture roughly the size of a golf ball (about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches in diameter) in the palm of one hand, and, using the other thumb, make a depression as deep as the first joint of your thumb. Into this depression, place some of the meat/cheese mixture. Pull the rice surrounding the hole over the filling to cover and seal the filling.

When all of the balls have been formed in this fashion (you may or may not have a bit of filling left over), dip each ball quickly in beaten egg and then roll in breadcrumbs to coat.

Heat the peanut oil to 350° in a skillet or wok. You want the oil to be about as deep as the radius of your finished rice balls. Fry the rice balls a few at a time, gently turning with a spoon until light brown all over.
Drain the cooked rice balls on brown paper and keep warm until serving.

Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding

Mom says that she was never satisfied with any of the rice pudding recipes that she made when I was growing up. I remember her complaining that this particular recipe never turned out right, but I just figured that was because we treated it as a convenient "round 2" for left-over rice, tossed it in a dish and zapped it in the microwave. But I certainly don't remember her using brandy... Whether she liked it or not, I still enjoyed her rice pudding. This recipe comes from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American, by Jeff Smith, but it supposedly originates from Thomas Jefferson.

--1 1/2 cups Milk
--Pinch of Salt
--5 tbsp Sugar
--1 tbsp Butter, melted
--1 tsp Vanilla
--5 Eggs, beaten
--1/4 cup Brandy
--2 cups Cooked Long-Grain Rice
--1 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
--Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix milk, salt, sugar, vanilla, butter, eggs, and brandy. Add the rice and lemon juice, mix and pour into a greased 8x10 baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 50 minutes, or until lightly brown and the custard has set. Test with a table knife, sticking it in the center of the dish. If the knife comes out clean, the dish is baked. Top with a little milk or maple syrup.
--

Wild Rice with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

The title of the recipe pretty much says it all, but I will give you the proportions anyway.

We came across this recipe as a handout from The Healthy Buffalo in Chichester, New Hampshire, where we used to go for low-cholesterol meat. I can't find the recipe itself right now, but this is how we made it.

1 cup wild rice or wild rice/brown rice mixture

2 cups of water, chicken stock, or chicken bouillon

A pinch of salt if you are using plain water

1/2 tsp. butter or olive oil

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Bring the rice and lightly salted water or chicken stock to a boil. Add the butter or olive oil and stir well. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and continue to cook over very low heat for 45 to 50 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Stir in the cranberries and pecans.

Optional: Add some finely chopped sweet or green onions to cook along with the rice and water.

National Public Radio's "How Low Can You Go" Challenge

For NPR's "How Low Can You Go" family supper challenge, some of the nation's best cooks have each agreed to come up with a budget-conscious meal for a family of four that's healthy, easy and delicious. The hitch? The meal must cost less than $10 — and the cheaper the better. ~All Things Considered

When I first heard about this challenge, I was sure that most of the suppers we make here at the Zees are well within this price range--dividing the $10/per family of four in half, making $5 for our empty-nest family of two. Looking at Beez's lasagna this past weekend, I'm not so sure. The cost for that cheese sure adds up!

Here are some of the results from the NPR challenge:

The Neelys Get Playful with a $9 Mac 'N' Cheese (Cheesy Corkscrews with Crunchy Bacon Topping

Chef Ming Tsai Makes a $10 Dish His Kids Love (Chicken-and-Corn Fried Rice with Lemon Spinach)

From Chef Jose Andres, A Family Favorite for $10 (Moorish-Style Chick Pea and Spinach Stew

Navy Chef Gets Creative with a $10 Skate Meal (Cream of Asparagus Soup, Sauteed Skate Meuniere with Potato Gnocchi)

Rice with Cheese and Onions

1 1/2 cups uncooked rice

3 tbl. olive oil

1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped

2 tbl. butter

3 cups chicken stock, canned chicken broth, or water with chicken bouillon

1/2 tsp. salt (optional)

1/2 cup grated Swiss or Monterey Jack cheese

1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Black pepper to taste

Saute the rice in the olive oil in a frying pan, stirring and watching carefully until it just starts to brown. Remove from pan to a 2 quart covered saucepan. 

Add the butter to the heated frying pan and saute the onions until they are light brown. Place the onions, broth, and salt in the pan with the rice and bring to a boil. After the pot boils for 3 minutes, turn the heat to low and cover. After 15 minutes turn off the heat, but do not remove the lid for 5 more minutes. Stir in the cheeses and pepper.

Original recipe came from Jeff Smith's The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American.

Dad's Rice Pudding

This recipe appears on Beez's blog, Pirate Dogs and Pilgrims. This is the best dessert, and the ability to make such a simple dish with such elegant results elevates my husband from the backyard grilling brigade to the status of Real Cook. I have quoted much of it with permission, but you should go read it on his blog for all of his narrative.

4 Cups Milk

3 Tablespoons long-grain rice (Texmati, Carolina, Basmati, or 

    Jasmine all work)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (depending on your taste-- I use 

a full teaspoon)

Preheat the oven to 300F and butter an 11X7 oven-proof glass baking pan.

Stir together all of the ingredients except the vanilla.  Put in the oven.  Bake for 2 hours, stirring  every half hour to keep the rice distributed.  Add the vanilla to the last stirring.  Continue baking for an additional 1 - 1 1/2 hours, until browned slightly on top.  

This makes the best rice pudding I've ever had and I've eaten in some diners run by Greeks that made awfully good rice pudding!!!  You can add raisins and vary the amount of rice to get a firmer texture,  I've made this with both whole and skim milk and it's always been good.   This recipe is basically the one appearing in  Atlantic Feb 2007. Check the link for the original recipe with variations.  With the end of football season, what else is there to do on a Sunday afternoon?? 

Emily's Spanish Rice

Serves 4 as a main dish.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound hamburger
1 yellow onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 green pepper, cored and coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon commercial chili powder
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup converted rice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1/4 teaspoon whole thyme leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a 2-quart Dutch oven and add the oil, hamburger, and onions. Saute until the meat browns and falls apart and the onions are clear. Remove excess fat from pan and add the green pepper and chili powder. Saute an additional 5 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 25 minutes, or until the rice is tender.

From Jeff Smith's The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American

Stuffed Peppers

This is one of those approximate recipes that all cooks have in their heads. You can use either green or red (or orange or yellow) peppers.

Slice off the tops of the peppers, set the bottoms aside, and chop the tops, discarding the stems.

Pan fry the chopped pepper with chopped onion and ground beef. Season with salt and pepper and oregano; add a little tomato sauce.

Add some cooked rice.

Place the bottoms of the peppers in a greased casserole dish, fill with the stuffing and put the rest of the stuffing over the top of everything. I always make too much stuffing, so my individually stuffed peppers always morph into a kind of casserole.

Sprinkle with grated cheese, then with Italian bread crumbs, then with Parmesan cheese.

Bake covered at 350 for around 45 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for an additional 10 minutes to crisp the top.