RICE PILAF
One of the first “gourmet” dishes I learned to make was rice pilaf. I borrowed a cookbook from one of my aunts, shortly after high school, because I wanted to learn how to cook for myself. I used it over the years, eventually tweaking it to use organic ingredients. It is one of my wife’s favorite dishes, especially when paired with breaded chicken cutlets, which I made for her tonight.
Ingredients
1 ½ tsps organic butter
1 ½ tsps good grade olive oil (one you can eat after dipping in bread)
1 medium onion diced
2 ½ cups broth (use a flavor that compliments your dish)
1 cup organic long grain brown rice
2 tsps fresh organic thyme
½ tsp black pepper
Salt and additional pepper to taste
I will be the first to say that I can’t stand seeing a recipe that says “salt and pepper to taste,” but the fact of the matter is that with this recipe, it all depends on your broth. Here, I use my homemade chicken broth, to which I don’t add salt.
- Preheat the oven to 375°
- Warm broth. If unsalted broth, add 1 tsp of salt. If salted, don’t add salt. Check for seasoning at the end.
- Heat butter and olive oil in a bake safe dish.
- Add diced onions until translucent, then add thyme.
- Add rice to dish and sauté until rice is browned slightly. Add black pepper.
- Add broth to dish and simmer for two minutes.
- Place in oven until liquid is absorbed (usually 45 – 60 minutes)
- Serve with your dish
Here, I made my wife chicken cutlets with steamed broccoli. As you can see, I added a candle and fresh roses. I wanted to give her a special evening. She is a remarkable woman who sacrifices so much for our family.