Easy
6
Published 1992
Because a dish that’s 100 percent wild rice can be grassy tasting, I like to add a little white rice for lightening both the flavor and appearance. I do not recommend buying a commercial mix that includes both, because wild rice takes more than double the time to cook than does white so you end up with undercooked wild rice and overcooked white!
The intense flavor of wild rice works wonderfully with game and full-flavored poultry such as goose. I often bring it as a house gift to my friends the Brossolets, in France, because it is a native American product less available there and goes so magnificently with the game Max hunts. One year, when my friend
INGREDIENTS | MEASURE | WEIGHT | |
volume | ounces | grams | |
boiling water | • | • | |
Glace de Viande* | |||
wild rice | |||
salt, divided | • | • | |
long-grain white rice (preferably Uncle Ben’s) | |||
boiling water | • | • | |
OPTIONAL: sliced mushrooms | |||
goose fat or butter | |||
OPTIONAL: shallot, minced or | |||
onion, minced | |||
pepper, freshly ground | several grindings | • | • |
*Or
Place the wild rice in a strainer and run cold water through it until the water runs clear.
In a medium-size saucepan, bring
Meanwhile, spray the inside of a small heavy saucepan with a tight cover with nonstick vegetable shortening, or butter it. Add the white rice, boiling water and the remaining
Scrape the white rice into the cooked wild rice and fluff lightly with a fork. Cover the rice tightly.
To prepare the optional mushrooms, while the rice is cooking, in a large, heavy frying pan with a lid, heat the goose fat or butter over medium heat. When bubbling, add the shallot or onion and cook, stirring often, for about 1 minute or until translucent. Add the mushrooms, cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until they give up their liquid. Continue cooking uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add this to the rice mixture. Add the pepper and toss lightly with a fork to blend. (If you omit the shallots and mushrooms, add the goose fat or butter and pepper to the rice mixture.) Taste and adjust the seasonings.
I often use this method when I don’t want to wait an hour for the rice. It is delightfully reliable. Place the water and Glace de Viande cubes or stock, the rice and salt in the pressure cooker and lock the lid in place. Over high heat, bring the pressure to high. Lower the heat but maintain high pressure. Cook for 30 minutes. Place the pressure cooker in the sink and run cold water over the lid until the pressure is released. Open the lid away from your face to avoid the steam. Then boil for a few minutes over high heat to evaporate any remaining liquid. Depending on the rice and the size of the pot, this can take as long as 10 minutes.
Uncooked wild rice stored in an airtight container keeps indefinitely without any nutritional or flavor loss.
© 1992 Rose Levy Beranbaum. All rights reserved.