Rice Recipes

Does everybody else eat as much rice as I do?... probably not but I’m sure a large percentage of us do especially in Nigeria.
So many ways to cook your rice, you can boil it, fry it, sauté it, steam it, bake it, colour it, spice it, barbecue it… okay I’m going too far now…lol…
So I have am doing the homework for all rice lovers like me... I’ll get rice recipes and try them and post the ones that I think taste fine here.
Ready, pots on the cooker… get cooking!

African Vegetable Rice
This particular one is pretty easy to do. I cooked mine without the celery stalks or rather replaced them with spring onions (somewhere in my brain I figured I could) and it still turned out quite fine. You can also replace the butter with vegetable oil.

Ingredients:
Serves 2-3
2 cups (milk cups) rice, washed and drained
1 1/4 pints [3 1/8 cups] water
2 teaspoons salt
2 oz. (1/4 cup) butter
1 Medium-sized onion, finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled and chopped
1 large red pepper, white pith removed, seeded and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
4 oz. broccoli, trimmed and chopped
4 oz. mushrooms, wiped clean and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation:
1 Put the rice in a large saucepan. Pour over the water and add 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt.
2 Place the pan over moderately high heat and bring the water to the boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and simmer the rice for 15 to 20 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
3 In a large frying-pan, melt the butter over moderate heat. When the foam subsides, add the onion and fry, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes or until it is soft and translucent but not brown. Add the tomatoes, red pepper, celery and broccoli. Fry, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the mushrooms to the pan and fry, stirring frequently, for a further 3 minutes. Season with the remaining salt and the cayenne.
4 Add the rice to the pan and stir the mixture until it is combined. Cook, stirring frequently, for a further 10 minutes or until the mixture is thoroughly heated through.
5 Remove the pan from the heat and serve at once.



MEXICAN RICE - by Ruth Lashbrook
2 cups of rice
3 cups water
1 medium sized onion, cut into bite sized chunks
garlic, coarsely chopped (about 2 cloves)
one medium sized tomato diced
Chili powder to taste (2 teaspoons)
Vegetable oil (do not use olive oil as it will burn the rice)
Chicken broth
Preparation:
1 Add some oil to a heavy skillet over med-hi heat. The oil must be enough to coat the rice. Stir the rice evenly as it cooks in the oil. The rice will turn from clear to white to golden brown as it soaks up the oil. More oil may be needed until the right amount for your taste and method is found. It should take about 15 minutes or so. Stir gently until the rice browns. This is the most important step.
2 When the rice is nearly browned, add the onion and continue cooking. when it is done browning, add the garlic and cook it quickly, then add the water, tomato, chicken broth and the spices. When it comes to a boil lower the heat to med-low, cover, and let simmer till water is absorbed (20-40 minutes).
3 Stir to redistribute the onion and tomato, and serve warm with frijoles al la chara (pinto beans cooked with the same spices and bacon, southwestern style).
4 Garnish meal with lime juice.

Source: http://www.ricegourmet.com/Recipes.htm