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Passport & Plate - Classic Rice Pilaf

Uzbekistan | Thursday, March 13, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups long-grain white rice
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 pinch saffron (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

How to prepare this recipe
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2) Melt butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until onion is lightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
3) Combine rice and onion mixture in a 9x13-inch casserole dish placed on a baking sheet. Stir thoroughly to coat the rice.
4) Combine chicken stock, salt, saffron, and cayenne pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
5) Pour chicken stock mixture over rice in the casserole dish and stir to combine. Spread mixture evenly along the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
6) Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove foil and fluff with a fork to separate the grains of rice.

 

The story behind this recipe
Every country has his kitchen. Unique and awesome. And every family has got his very secret receipt, from grand-grand mother to grand -mother, from grandmother to mother and finally from mother to daughter.
Usually family has own traditions and manners.
All my life I live with my grand - father and my grand - mother and I for good and all fell in love in grand-mother's food. Especially I love summer. In our garden we take a table, put very beautiful tablecloth, take the best service and begin! Every day grandfather wakes up at 5 a.m. and goes to fishing. When he comes back, granny prepares fresh bread, do coffee and take fruits from garden. After all, we cook fish pie, than fish soup and in the end unforgettable raspberries and apricots jams.
Have been living in Malta, visiting Italy, studying in France; I love to come back home. A few days before arrival I hear traditional question: "What do you want to tasty at home? Borch, sashlik, meat, legumes, plov, fried potatoes?" To be honest to note that bed fried patties is cocked by my grandfather. But today I would like tell you about me favorite and lovely plat - pilaf. In my childhood, grandmother very often tell me story about Alexander Magnus. As my grandmother told me Alexander set a task for his cooks - do such a plate, which will be easy to do in war conditions, will be tasty and understand, will have original attractive view, easy to cook. Pilaf comes out very tasty. For him my granny and me bake fresh home bread, take greens from garden and take home red wine.
In the modern world we often forget about simply food. But the happiness is to come back to beginning. I love food. I don't think that it is the way to be just full. In my opinion, it is the way to feel, the way to speak.
So, for me love cooking and write about it came from my childhood.
Present "pilaf" isn't random choice. I would like to say the dish is cooked from simply ingredients, but with love is the best dish in the world.