A friend of mine turned me onto a way to make rice that is fantastic and fluffy. Thank you Steve (and he writes great songs too!). I tried it with jasmine rice and then brown rice. I have used a Black & Decker electric rice steamer for the last few years. That has saved me from ruining pans like I used to before using the steamer! But doing it this new way is much better. We will be eating a lot more rice. It is gluten-free and adapts to many different types of cooking.
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear.
- Heat a Dutch oven or deep casserole type dish (something that can go in the oven) over high heat. Add some olive oil. I didn’t measure but I would guess 1 – 2 tablespoons of oil.
- When the oil is hot, add 1 cup of rice. Stir occasionally, allowing it to brown.
- When the rice is browned, add 1 teaspoon of minced fresh garlic. When you begin to smell the garlic cooking, add 2 cups water (or stock), 2 tablespoons butter, salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. Cover and put the pan in the oven.
- The jasmine rice was done in about 20 minutes. The brown rice took about an hour. About halfway through the brown rice, I added about 1/2 cup more of water. Next time I will start with more water right from the beginning of the cooking.
When I made the jasmine rice, we had it with chicken in a red curry sauce. When I made the brown rice, we had it as a cold salad with chopped carrots, green beans, halved cherry tomatoes (got them at Whole Foods….what a pleasure to eat cherry tomatoes that taste like cherry tomatoes, in the middle of winter), basil, parsley, S&P, and a vinagrette made with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple vinegar, and sugar. it was yum.
I’m doing a lot more cooking, way more than I’ve done in the past. I love it! I love being in the kitchen. I love the tastes, the colors, the textures. I love perusing my cookbooks, adapting recipes where needed to make them gluten-free. The challenging thing is that I really have to make a concerted effort to think about what the next meal will consist of. Especially if I’m going to be out of the house doing errands etc. I prefer to plan ahead and be prepared. I know I’ll make wiser choices that way.
Speaking of wiser choices, time for bed!
Best, Ellen
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As a hypoglycemic on a GF diet, I completely understand your feelings about needing to always know about the next meal. I suggest buying Larabars to keep in your purse – they are raw food bars with nuts, fruit, and spices/natural flavors. My favorite is Apple Pie – I eat one every weekday as a snack during my afternoon classes to stave off hunger until I can get home to eat some home-cooked foods.
At what temperature do you cook the rice in the oven?
Anonymous, I generally set the oven to 375.
I do my every-day rice the America's Test Kitchen way: don't rinse the rice, saute 1/2 cup of rice in a tablespoon of butter (or whatever fat you'd use in your rice), add salt and 1 cup of boiling water LESS 1/8th (or just slightly less than twice the amount of rice) and cover tightly. Some white rice takes 25 minutes, some less – go by the package directions. I have never had this method fail.
My husband doesn't care for rice, unless add sauteed mushrooms and green onions and use garlic salt. Good food – and even better with brown rice.