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Spanish Rice
3/4 cup rice 2 tablespoons fat 5 cups water 2 onions 2 cups tomatoes 1/2 cup chopped green pepper or pimientos Salt Pepper Paprika Fry the rice in the fat until brown, then add water and boil until soft. Drain. Saute the onions in a little fat; mix with tomatoes and chopped peppers or pimientos, and add to the rice. Add seasoning, and place in a greased casserole. Bake (350 degrees F.) for thirty minutes.
A 1920s oven pilaf that treats rice like pasta: browned in fat, boiled loose in abundant water, drained, then baked with a tomato and pepper mixture. The method is sound but the quantities assume you will taste and adjust.
- Brown the rice properlyThe frying step is what distinguishes this from plain baked rice. Stir the dry grains in the fat over medium heat until they are the color of straw and smell nutty, five to eight minutes; if they scorch the whole dish turns bitter.
- The water is not an absorption ratioFive cups for three-quarters of a cup of rice means the rice is boiled free in plenty of water and drained, as for macaroni. Long-grain white rice takes twelve to fifteen minutes at a simmer; drain it while the grains still have a little resistance, since thirty minutes in the oven follows.
- Fat"Fat" in this period commonly meant bacon drippings, lard, or a hydrogenated shortening. Bacon fat adds smokiness; olive oil or butter both work.
- TomatoesTwo cups, most likely canned tomatoes with their juice (roughly a 15-oz can plus a little), though fresh would also fit the bare wording. Break them up with a spoon or the finished casserole will be watery in patches.
- OnionsTwo unspecified onions; take that as two medium yellow onions, about 1 1/2 cups chopped. Cook them until soft and beginning to color rather than merely translucent.
- Peppers or pimientosThese are not interchangeable in flavor. Raw green pepper stays sharp and vegetal through the baking; jarred pimientos are already cooked and sweet, so the dish comes out noticeably milder.
- SeasoningSalt, pepper and paprika are given without amounts. Start with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of paprika, and season the mixture before it goes into the dish, since baked rice takes correction badly.
- Baking and yieldThirty minutes at 350F, as the recipe directs; it calls only for a greased casserole and says nothing about covering, so cover it if you want it moist and leave it open if you want a browned top. A two-quart dish suits the volume. Makes a modest amount -- four servings as a side, two or three as a main.