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Turkish Pilaf II
1/2 cup washed rice 3/4 cup tomatoes, stewed and strained 1 cup Brown Stock, highly seasoned 3 tablespoons butter Add tomato to stock, and heat to boiling point; add rice, and steam until rice is soft; stir in butter with a fork, and keep uncovered that steam may escape. Serve in place of a vegetable, or as border for curried or fricasseed meat.
A small, straightforward rice dish built on stock rather than water. The proportions are for two to three as a side.
- Liquid to riceHalf a cup of rice to 1 3/4 cups total liquid is generous for modern long-grain rice, which wants about 1 cup liquid to 1/2 cup rice. Expect a soft, loose pilaf; reduce the stock to 3/4 cup if you want separate grains.
- "Washed rice"Rice then came dusty and often talc-coated, so rinsing was routine. Modern packaged rice needs only a brief rinse to shed surface starch, and enriched rice should not be rinsed at all if you want the added vitamins.
- "Steam until soft"Most easily done covered over low heat, though cookbooks of this period sometimes meant cooking over hot water in a double boiler. Fifteen to eighteen minutes for white long-grain; brown rice needs 40 or more and additional liquid.
- Brown stockA dark beef or veal stock, reduced and well seasoned. Commercial low-sodium beef broth works, but it is thin, so simmer it down by a third first and salt at the end since the tomato concentrates as it cooks.
- Tomatoes, stewed and strainedIn this period that meant stewed tomatoes, home-cooked or canned, pushed through a sieve. Use about 3/4 cup tomato puree or passata, not tomato paste, which is far more concentrated.
- Uncovered at the finishThe one step that decides the texture. Take the lid off, fork in the butter, and let the pan sit off the heat a few minutes so trapped steam escapes and the grains firm up rather than turning pasty.
- As a borderPacked into a ring mould or shaped with a spoon around the edge of a hot platter, with curry or fricassee in the well. A wet spoon or lightly buttered mould keeps the rice from sticking.