How to Make Brown and Wild Rice Pilaf
Brown and wild rice pilaf is a comfort food at its best and is really simple to make. It is an extremely versatile dish in which you can add vegetables, meat or nuts of your choice. In the original recipe, porcini (a kind of mushrooms), is used, but you can use any other vegetable or seafood. Nuts, such as almonds and cashews, also complement this recipe extremely well.
Preparation Time: 30 to 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Yield: 2 to 3 servings
Ingredients:
– Wild-rice: 1/2 cup
– Long-grain brown rice (not converted): 1 cup
– Dried porcini: 1 1/2 ounces
– Hot water: 1 cup
– Cold water: 1 3/4 cups
– Salt: 1 teaspoon
– Onion (chopped): 1 cup
– Unsalted butter: 3 tablespoons
– Fresh parsley (chopped): 1 1/2 cups
Instructions
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1
Rinse the wild rice thoroughly under running water in a sieve.
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2
Bring to a boil three cups of water in a small saucepan and add rice to it. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the rice to soak in the hot water for about half an hour.
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3
Get a small bowl filled with hot water and soak dried porcini in it for 30 minutes.
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4
After half an hour run this mixture through a washed and squeezed muslin cloth set over a measuring cup, reserving ¾ cup of the soaking liquid.
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5
Thoroughly wash the mushrooms under running cold water to remove any grit. Finely chop the porcini using a sharp kitchen knife and set it aside.
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6
In a large saucepan combine the porcini soaking liquid with 1 ¾ cups of cold water and bring the mixture to a full boil over medium high heat.
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7
Once the liquid starts boiling, stir in the wild rice and brown rice and reduce the heat to low. Also add one teaspoon of salt and allow the mixture to simmer covered for 35 to 40 minutes or until the rice are tender and the liquid is absorbed.
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8
While the rice are simmering, melt butter in a large skillet and sauté chopped onion in it over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally.
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9
When the onion is soft and translucent, stir in chopped porcini and cook for a couple of minutes.
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10
Add cooked rice and chopped parsley to the skillet containing mushrooms, season with salt and pepper to taste and toss to combine well and remove from the heat.
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11
Your wild and brown rice pilaf is ready. Serve hot with soy sauce or any other sauce of your choice on the side.