How to make rice

This post written by the original Ebby. 

A couple of years ago my daughter’s class at school partnered with a local newspaper. All the kids filled out questionnaires and the paper published their answers, along with their photos. One of the questions was, “What is your favorite food?” Most answers consisted of “pizza” or “chicken nuggets” or “spaghetti.” Fairly typical. My daughter’s answer? “White rice boiled in chicken broth.” What the?!

Okay, so she’s a picky eater. It’s not my fault, I swear. I’ve exposed her to plenty of pizza and spaghetti and the like. She won’t take the bait.

So I make a lot of rice. Boiled in chicken broth.

The chicken broth adds great flavor that we all love. But if you want to make rice pudding or any kind of sweet rice, swap the broth for water. Or coconut milk. Or really, any sweet liquid.

At any rate, making rice is almost too easy to be classified as “cooking.” Take two cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add one cup of rice. We prefer the medium grain, as it sticks together and is pleasantly chewy, but any size will do.

Bring the broth to a simmer. If you’re using water, you might want to add a pinch of salt. Cover.

Then you wait. You can send some emails, run out to the barn and back a few times, scrub your floors. Or you could make a main dish to go with your rice. I admit there are nights when rice is our main dish, so I can move on to other things. Pathetic and embarrassing, I know.

I think the whole process takes around 20 minutes, give or take. I start checking the rice after about 15.

If it looks like this, with the rice surrounding a pool of liquid, it’s not done yet. Go paint your nails.

Now it’s done. The liquid has completely soaked into the rice, and the grains are plump and tender.  Time to dig in.

I got a little crazy here and served mine with corn and green olives. Don’t ask. But it was good.

So there you go. Easiest food you’ll ever make!

Comments

[Linda]

You almost served Puerto Rican rice. Check out the ingredients to my favorite recipe: 1/2 cup Achiote Oil, 1/2 cup Sofrito, 2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels 1/2 cup alcaparrado or coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed olives 2 to 3 tablespoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 bay leaves 3 cups long grain white rice Homemade or canned chicken broth as needed (about 4 cups)
I bet your daughter would like this if she loves rice. I got the recipe for the achiote oil and the sofrito from http://www.daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_detail.cfm?ID=35
Can't wait to try some of your recipes!