Zosia's Reviews
5 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 5Sort by: Title 
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Seductions of Rice: A Cookbook
By Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid
Artisan - 1998
Golden Chicken Kebabs : page 296
This is an easy, flavourful way of preparing boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs.
The meat is trimmed of fat, cubed and marinated in a mixture of plain yogurt, garlic and saffron. It soaks for 3-24 hours so it's easy to prepare in advance.
The kebabs cook very quickly, 10 minutes on the grill or under the broiler and they're done, making them perfect for a busy weeknight. The meat is juicy and tender, and flavoured with garlic and the earthy flavour of saffron. As with buttermilk, you don't taste the yogurt, it just seems to enhance the natural flavour of the chicken.
Tastes great hot or cold...this is one of my favourite ways to prepare chicken.
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Hoppin' John with a Side of Peas : page 390
I wasn’t aware of the significance of having this dish with collard greens on New Year’s Day until I read some recipe reviews on this site. I’m only a few months late and I served it with kale….do you think it still counts?
Though not as complex as some, I chose to make the recipe from this book as I’ve had excellent results with everything I’ve tried – the authors’ cooking times and instructions are very accurate. After an overnight soak, the black eyed peas are simmered slowly with chopped onion, cayenne pepper and a piece of Canadian back bacon (or ham hocks). The recipe makes extra peas to serve as a side, so once they’re tender, only half the peas and liquid are added to uncooked rice and steamed with the slab of bacon until the rice is cooked. Canadian back bacon is very lean so it ended up being a little dry. Next time, I’ll make an effort to find ham hocks.
Served with kale and the sliced bacon, it made for a delicious and comforting meal.
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Memories of Childhood Rice Pudding : page 417
I've only made the stove top variety so this baked rice pudding was quite a revelation.
It started on the stove top where medium grain rice (I used Japanese) and milk simmered for ~30minutes. The mixture was then transferred to a casserole and sugar, vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste) and (optional) nutmeg were added at different stages during the 1 1/4 hours of baking. The stove top method seemed almost instant by comparison!
However, there was no comparison when it came to texture and flavour - the mixture thickened beautifully and remained very creamy even after refrigeration, the grains of rice retained their integrity and didn't get mushy and the sugars caramelized, giving the pudding a hint of a dulce de leche flavour.
It was a bit of a time investment but really delicious. Like every family apparently does, mine fought over the brown skin that formed on the surface....next time I'll have to bake this in individual ramekins so everyone gets some!
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Mexican Red Rice : page 412
This version is far more delicious than any other Mexican red rice I've tried.
The method is fairly standard with one exception: rather than just adding raw (or canned) tomatoes, onions and garlic to the rice before steaming, the vegetables are first charred - I used a stove top grill pan - then pureed.
From this point, the recipe reads like most others: medium or long grain rice (I used Calrose) is rinsed, drained and browned, then steamed with the pureed vegetables, stock and (optional) carrots or corn. The rice is then finished with a chopped herb garnish.
The smokiness of the charred vegetables comes through and takes red rice to a new level. A little extra effort is required to make it, but it's worth it.
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Special Everyday Persian Rice (Chelo) : page 288
This recipe, also called chelo, is a little labour intensive but is a favourite of both daughters so gets made on occasion.
Quite a few steps are required in getting this basmati rice to the table: it starts with a rinse and then a long soak in some salted water. The rice is then cooked briefly in boiling water, drained, then rinsed in cool water to stop the cooking.
One thing that sets chelo apart from everyday Persian rice is the tahdig, a crispy golden layer that forms on the bottom of the pot during the next phase of cooking. To make it, some of the partly cooked rice is combined with an egg and yogurt and added to hot oil in the pot. The remaining rice is added carefully to create a mound, the pot is covered and the rice steams while the tahdig forms.
To serve, the rice is garnished with the crunchy, golden shards of deliciousness.
The rice has the perfect texture with absolutely no stickiness and tastes as good reheated as it does freshly made. It makes a huge amount, easily serving 8.
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