Home › The Principles of Cookery › CASSEROLE OF RICE (French method)

CASSEROLE OF RICE (French method)

Wash one pound of the best Carolina rice in two or three waters. Drain it, and put it into a stewpan with a quart of water, a large onion, a tea-spoonful of salt, and two ounces of fat. The skimmings of saucepans will answer for this purpose, or fat bacon, but if these are not at hand, use butter. Simmer very gently till the rice is quite soft but whole. Then drain it, and pound it to a paste. Well butter a baking dish or casserole mould, and press the paste into it. Mark the top in the same way as a cover of paste, making the marks rather deep. Pour a little butter over the whole, let it get cold, then turn it out of the mould, and bake it in a very hot oven till it is brightly browned, but not hard. The oven can scarcely be too hot for it. Take off the marked cover about an inch in depth. Scoop out the middle, and fill it with whatever is prepared for it. This may consist of mincemeat, Irish stew, rechauffe curries, hashes, or macaroni. Pour in a suitable sauce, replace the cover, and before serving return it to the oven for a few minutes. Time to boil the rice, about three-quarters of an hour. Probable cost, exclusive of the mincemeat, 6d. Sufficient for six persons.