One of the advantages of doing a food blog?  Everyone wants you to cook for them.  One of the disadvantages?  Everyone wants you to cook for them.  It’s just the nature of the beast – I’ll inevitably cook for certain groups of my friends more often than others.  Case in point – one of my friends commented after reading my last few entries, “Why don’t you ever cook for us when you come over on Mondays?”  My response?  “Well, how about this Monday?”  For, you see, I’d already thought about using that venue to make the next recipe – rice pilaf.

Now, pilaf is an undercooked dish in America, often falling by the wayside due to unfamiliarity and the ease that comes from grabbing a box of rice.  You’d be hard-pressed to get the flavors you’d find in a really good pilaf, though, in a boxed mix.  Is it more difficult than a box mix?  Sure, but not that much.  All you need to do for a pilaf is a few steps.  Sweat the aromatics, toast the rice in the same fat, add a cooking liquid, bring to a boil, lid, and cook in the oven until the rice has soaked up all the liquid.  You can add anything you want to the pilaf, but skip one of those steps, and you’re really not following the pilaf method.  In this case, Alton has a decidedly Spanish flair to his rice – onions and red bell peppers are sweated, and an infusion of bay leaf, orange zest and saffron gets added to the dish along with the chicken broth.  Frozen peas get added on top of that, as they will fully cook in the short time in the oven.  Alton also advocates an unusual manner of lidding – between the lid and the pot, he suggests placing a wet tea towel to prevent liquid from dripping back down into the rice.  I followed that instruction, but since I’ve not had much experience with pilafs, I can’t say whether it helped, hindered, or did nothing.

Garnishing the dish was some chopped pistachios and golden raisins, and it was a great accompaniment to the grilled chicken breast and steamed broccoli that was also on the menu.  It was quite delicious, and there was just enough for one or two meals after that.  So, another recipe down, and another group of satisfied appetites!

Next time, things take a darker turn.

Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/rice-pilaf-recipe/index.html