Rice-A-Roni
(from jbreazeale’s recipe box)
(almost) original recipe. Original recipe was: 1 c vermicelli, 1 cube butter, 1 c rice, 2 1/2 c boiling chicken broth, salt and pepper.
Source: NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93067862&ft=1&f=1053)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 7/8 cup long grain white rice
- 1/8 cup fideo capellini crushed into small pieces
- 1/2 cube butter
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 1/2 4.5 oz jar sliced "Green Giant" mushrooms packed in water and drained. (mushrooms can be substituted with any other canned mushrooms.)
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 2 1/2 cups boiling water
- 2 1/2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1/2 tbsp dried parsley flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Directions
-
Melt the butter over medium high flame in a medium sauce pan and add rice and fideo cappellini and stir constantly, cooking until it starts to turn golden.
-
Add chopped onion and cook until almost clear.
-
Add mushrooms and pine nuts (optional).
-
Stir constantly over medium high flame, until the mixture is golden brown with dark flecks of fideo capellini.
-
Meanwhile, make broth by heating water to boiling and adding bouillon cubes, parsley flakes, salt and pepper (you can heat this in the microwave or on the stove)
-
Stir to dissolve the bouillon.
-
Add boiling broth to browned rice mixture, (note: broth /rice mixture should taste slightly salty), return to a bowl, stir once, and cover, then turn down the hat to a low simmer.
-
Do not lift the cover for 35 minutes.
-
Remove from the heat, fluff with a fork; let rest until ready to serve.
-
P.S. Cover pan with a cloth to keep warm (If I am traveling with the rice over a period of several hours, I wrap the pan in several beach towels and it will stay nice and warm).
-
P.P.S To double the recipe: Use 7/8 cube butter; 4 7/8 cups water and 5 chicken bouillon cubes and cook rice for 37 minutes. (You can double all the other ingredients).
-
If you follow these directions exactly, you should have a perfect pilaf every time. But avoid the urge to peek at the cooking rice. Lifting the cover during cooking will affect the texture and fluffiness of the dish.