South American Rice

A one-pot Dutch oven supper of the mid-century camp-cooking sort: browned beef, aromatics, rice and potatoes, all steamed together over coals. A few of its assumptions need translating.

• Rice quantityThe instructions begin with washing and draining rice, but the ingredient list gives no amount at all; the line has simply dropped out. Something in the region of a cup of white rice suits two cups of liquid, bearing in mind that the vegetables and potatoes give up moisture as well.
• Brown the meat firstThe recipe says to mix everything and cook, but a pound of raw hamburger dropped into rice and water will steam into grey lumps. Break it up and brown it in the Dutch oven, then add the rest.
• Gentle heat means few coalsOver a fire, that is a thin bed of embers under the oven and a scattering on the lid, not a full flame. On a modern burner, the lowest setting that keeps a bare simmer.
• The cooking timeTwenty minutes plus three-quarters of an hour is over an hour of total cooking, which is far longer than white rice needs. Expect the rice to be very soft and the mixture porridge-like. Check for scorching on the bottom well before the hour is up.
• Dried celery sprigA sprig of home-dried celery leaf, once a common winter store. Substitute a teaspoon of dried celery leaves or a rib of fresh celery, chopped, added with the onion and carrot.
• Tinned consommeCanned consomme of the period was sold concentrated and diluted with an equal part water. Two cups of ordinary beef broth is the equivalent; if you use it, cut the salt to one teaspoon and correct at the end.
• Poultry seasoningA sage-and-thyme blend, not a curry or chile mixture. A quarter teaspoon in a dish this size is a background note; with the dried celery, salt and pepper, it is the whole of the seasoning.
• YieldServes four to six as a main course, depending on the rice quantity used.