Saffron Rice with Currants and Almonds – Is this a Pilaf? Who cares?

On this busy Monday morning, I didn’t have the time or energy to go surfing around the web gathering extensive info on what makes a rice dish a Pilaf. Early translations of “pilaf” simply refers to rice, or other grains, being cooked in oil and then in stock. As far as I’m concerned, if you put “stuff” in rice (veggies, fruits, nuts, meat, etc.) then you can call it a Pilaf, and keep a straight face. Sometime Pilaf is just a restaurant term used to make the rice sound fancier on the menu. I’ve had “Pilaf” that looked just like plain rice to me. I think most chefs would say the difference is whether the rice is cooked in a stock, or flavored broth, verses plain water…whatever.

I’m calling this “Saffron Rice with Currants and Almonds,” and there nothing anyone can do about it. Now, as I say in the video recipe, this is the very easy, very fast version. In the professional kitchen, a stock would be made with sautéed onions and the saffron, to infuse the maximum amount of color and flavor. In this version I just used my basic basmati rice technique and after coating the rice with the oil, I just throw everything in at once. It worked. Now, I will admit the professional method described above does make a better product, but many home cooks when faced with the extra steps of dicing onions and infusing stocks, will simply make plain rice and eat thier chicken legs. So, I decided to show a compromised version that should make everyone happy (is that possible?).

If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check out the Basmati Rice video recipe clip which will make this recipe easier to understand. By the way, there is NO substitute for saffron, so don’t ask. If you can’t find it and/or afford it (warning: its crazy expensive) then just make the recipe without it. If you’re just looking for a nice yellow color you could throw in some turmeric. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
2 cups basmati rice
3 cups cold water
2 tbl dried currants
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1 tsp salt
1 tbl butter
pinch of saffron
2 tbl olive oil

How to Make Perfect White Rice

Well, since you are going to be making that Caramel Chicken I recently posted, I thought I better post this rice clip also. Truly, one of life’s simple pleasures, it’s amazing how many requests I’ve received for a rice lesson. People are terrified of cooking rice for some reason, and claim that it never comes out right. They say it’s either a big gluey mess, or crunchy and under-cooked! Well, this method should fix all those problems.

Please try and find “Basmati” rice, which shouldn’t be too hard. Most large chain grocery stores do carry it now, and it’s a really flavorful product. By the way, this method should work with any long grain white rice. And save your, “you should buy a rice cooker” emails! Most people aren’t going to buy one, and it’s really not hard to make great rice using this method.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice (or any long grain white rice)

3 cups cold water

1 tsp butter

1/2 tsp salt