Rice is Nice

I would like to start off by apologizing to any of you who thought you may have tuned into the wrong show on Monday. Apparently, I called the show Hoos Talkin' instead of Hoos Cookin'! I did this not once, but several times. Luckily, I was able to remember my own name. lol
I want to say "Thank You" to my guests from Monday's show. My sister, Chris, from Michigan gave some interesting information on wild rice and a few good recipes as well.

Wild Rice with Wild Mushrooms
1 1/2 cups canned chicken broth
3/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed under cold water

1 1/4 cups wild rice, rinsed under cold water
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 bay leaves

3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
9 medium crimini or button mushrooms, sliced

Bring broth to boil in small saucepan. Remove from heat; add porcini mushrooms and let stand until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving soaking liquid. Finely chop porcini.

Bring medium saucepan of water to boil. Add rice, salt and bay leaves. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until rice is almost tender, about 45 minutes. Drain; discard bay leaves. (Porcini and rice can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover porcini, soaking liquid and rice separately and refrigerate.)

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, garlic, marjoram, thyme and porcini and saute 5 minutes. Add crimini mushrooms; saute until tender, about 7 minutes. Add rice and reserved porcini soaking liquid, discarding sediment in bottom. Simmer until almost all liquid absorbed but mixture is still moist, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

She also talked about a wild rice and chicken soup the recipe for which she sent me. As she said on the show, you can make this a non-cream soup by omitting the half-and-half and adding more broth, or, if you want a cream soup with less the fat, substitute low fat milk.

Wild Rice and Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 pound fresh sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 3 tablespoons dry sherry
• 2 cups half-and-half

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery and carrots and saute for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for 2 more minutes. Then add the flour and stir well. Gradually pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly, until all has been added. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer.
2. Next, add the rice, chicken, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, parsley, ground black pepper, almonds and sherry. Allow to heat through, then pour in the half-and-half. Let simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. (Note: Do not boil or your roux will break.)

Well, in addition to forgetting the name of my own show, I also forgot to mention that our next guest, Mai, was the person from New Orleans whom I'd alluded to earlier. I was so happy to have her on the show and I finally located Massaman curry paste today at the Thai-Lao Market on Santa Rosa Blvd this afternoon. So as soon as Lent is over, I'm on my way to a something new! In the meantime, here's her recipe:

Massaman Beef Curry

Ingredients:

2 Pounds Chuck Steak cut into 10 pieces

1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts

2 medium potatoes , peeled cut into 8 pieces

3-4 tablespoons massaman curry paste

1 can 13.5 oz. (Chaokoh coconut milk)
1 1/2 cups water

1 whole white onion

1 teaspoon brown sugar

3-4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt

To do

a. Add Coconut milk (one can) into a pot and heat on low heat until hot.

b. Add massaman curry paste (3 to 4 tablespoons) or more if you want it more spice. Stir well and let it heat for up to ten minutes on low heat.

c. Cut beef into 10 pieces add into pot and stir well and let it cook for 10 minutes on medium high heat. Add water and bring to a simmer.

d. Add peanuts, onion and potatoes, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Stir them well and let them cook for 40-50 minutes until the beef is tender on low heat. Stir the pot every 10 minutes.

After 50 minutes serve with white steamed rice only.

I was so glad my fellow forum member from the Jamie Oliver site rang in with her recipe which she had sent me to link to and which I had planned on talking about. It looked a little daunting at first but once you read the directions, it's not all that bad. It's one that I definitely want to try.
Here is the link for Persian Rice Salad:
http://www.najmiehskitchen.com/nk_recipes.html
It's the last recipe on the bottom of the page.