Rice Pilaf

Pilafs are rice dishes made with broth or stock instead of water.    They are fairly common in a number of cuisines, including those of the Mideast and South Asia.   Because you can add so many things to the rice, limitless variations of pilaf are possible.    The main example that I give here is a pilaf with lime zest, almonds and raisins.    This is a fairly spicy dish in the tradition of India or central Asia. It should take about an hour or so.

Bake almonds on a pie plate in the oven at 400°F until golden (about 5 minutes). Shake or stir these once or twice over the course of the baking.

Heat oil in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat.    Add onion and pine nuts.    Sautee until the onion is soft and the pine nuts are slightly brown (about 5 minutes). Stir these constantly.    Stir in rice.    Cook for five minutes, stirring frequently.    Add stock, raisins, lime zest, saffron, cinnamon, salt, pepper flakes and cardamom, stir well.    Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed (about 15-20 minutes).    Remove from the heat.    Fluff with at fork and stir in the almonds.

Notes

1:   Rice is one of those foods that come in a myriad varieties.    In some parts of
      the world, varietal differences are taken very seriously.    Armies have deserted
      and missionaries have been burned at the stake for serving the wrong variety of
      rice.    I suspect that this will work reasonably well with long grain or brown
      rice, but if you're looking for authenticity, use short grain.    For this particular
      recipe, arborio is a good choice.

2:   I haven't noticed much difference in flavor between golden raisins and normal
      dark raisins.    Use either.

3:   Zest is the outer (colored) peel of the lime.

4:   Saffron is expensive, but a small pinch crushed and crumbled will be fine.
      You don't need a lot.

5:   The red pepper flakes make this a hot recipe.    If you don't like the heat, either
      cut way back on it or omit it entirely.

Variations

Since pilaf is a general term for rice cooked with stock instead of water, you can add any number of things to make a main dish pilaf. The variations below, all use 1 cup of rice and 2 1/2 cups stock. Assume chicken (or turkey) stock, unless otherwise noted.

1:   Saute 3/4 cup chopped celery and 1 small chopped onion in 2 Tbs butter.
      Add 1 cup of cooked, chopped poultry meat (chicken, goose, duck or turkey).
      Add rice and stock.    Cook as above.

2:   Melt 2 Tbs unsalted butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium-low heat.    Add
      1/2 cup grated carrot and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes.    Stir in 1/4 cup
      slivered almonds, the grated zest of 2 oranges, 1/4 cup golden raisins, and 1/8
      tsp turmeric and continue to stir for 3 - 4 minutes.    Add the rice (use long
      grain) and keep stirring until the rice is well coated with butter and takes on
      some of the color.    This should take about 2 minutes.    While doing this,
      bring the stock to a boil.    Pour the boiling stock over the rice mixture.    Bring
      the rice to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until all the liquid is
      absorbed. This should take 15 - 20 minutes.    Fluff with a fork before serving.

3:   Soak 1 ounce of dried mushrooms in 2/3 cups hot water for 2 hours.    Remove
      the mushrooms from the soaking liquid.    Pat the mushrooms dry and chop
      finely.    Reserve the liquid.    In a saucepan, cook 1 cup of (long-grain) rice in
      the mushroom soaking liquid and 1 cup of stock until the liquid is absorbed.
      Remove from heat.    While the rice is cooking saute 2 chopped medium onions
      in 6 (!) Tbs of butter.    When the onions clear add the chopped dried
      mushrooms and 1 pound of sliced fresh mushrooms.    Saute.    When the
      fresh mushrooms have softened nicely, add 2 minced medium cloves of garlic
      and 1/4 cup sour cream.    Remove from heat.    When the rice is done, stir the
      mushroom mixture into the rice.    Sprinkle with chopped fresh dill.