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The kind of rice I enjoy with Gumbos, Red Beans, Etouffee, etc., a lot of NoLA Cuisine dishes, is Creole Boilied Rice. I like it because the grains stay seperate from one another, essentially, they let the main dish be the dish. Not that the rice is second fiddle, in fact, if your rice is terrible, it will ruin the whole dish. When I have a pot of Red Beans on the stove, my Rice is as important as my Beans, which means, Very important! I take Red Beans & Rice very seriously. Well, not too seriously, nothing should be too serious, but let’s just say I hold them in high esteem (more on Red Beans later). Anyway, this is a great, simple, Accompaniment Rice. Not great because it’s simple, just great! The simple water/rice ratio is:
1 quart of Boiling water / 1 cup of Rice
The goal here is not to absorb all of the liquid into the rice like most recipes. The goal is to make the rice tender, then drain the rice! Think Pasta. I use Basmati or Jasmine Rice. Here is my recipe!
Creole Boiled Rice
1 quart of Boiling Water
1 Cup Basmati or Jasmine Rice
2 Fresh Bay Leaves (If you have to use dried, do so, but damn….. the fresh are so much better!)
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter (Optional)
Bring the water to a boil with the Bay leaves. Add the salt. Add the rice, stir to make sure the rice doesn’t stick! Do Not Stir again! If you agitate the rice too much, it gets sticky! So give it a good stir, when it comes back to a boil, partially cover it. Cook for about 11 minutes, but taste it, don’t trust me! It should have some bite, but a crunch is bad, Call it Al Dente, like I said, think Pasta. When it’s tender, drain it, pluck out the bay leaves, and if desired, place it into a 400 degree oven with the butter patted on top for about 15 minutes; this helps dry the rice out.
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