January 2021 Challenge - rice!

[butzy]

Another rice noodle stir fry....

Chili paste (not home made, but got it instead of change), garlic, orange bell pepper, garlic, fresh mint and basil, eggs, left over steak, fish sauce.
Plus oystersauce and a little vinegar (as I ran out of limes).


Soaked rice noodles


Standard stir frying process etc
And very tasty end result.

 

[Hank]

Chicken and Rice in Cream Sauce

Julia Child made this in her first TV series from the 60's (it's available on Amazon Prime).

I started with mirepoix, parsley and bay leaf, and small garlic clove as well as a 40 hour turkey stock (hat-tip to mike9)



She calls the rice method risotto but it's a French version which is started like Italian risotto and then cooked covered with all the liquid like steamed rice.

I cooked the dry rice in butter and minced onion. Then added the chicken stock and covered and cooked until done.



It didn't really go as planned. The liquid was absorbed slowly and I had to wing it to get the rice done properly. But in the end it was very creamy and flavorful.

For the chicken I first sautéed the mirepoix and when soft added the garlic followed by the chicken. I placed a piece of parchment paper over the mixture, covered and cooked for about 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven.



I removed the chicken and kept warm while I made the sauce. First I added a dry white wine and reduced, then stock and reduced by half. Finally I added cream mixed with corn starch and cooked to thicken.



And serve

 

[harpua]

Mochi brownies! Made with all mochiko sweet rice flour. Very good! Good chocolate flavor and slightly chewy!

 

[eastshores]

Chicken and Rice in Cream Sauce

This looks great, and forgive me but it reminds me of something my mom would make for us as kids long ago. Not sure if everyone knows about canned chicken ala king lol .. she would sometimes put it over rice.

 

[butzy]

Pad prik king. Just with left over steak this time, instead of the traditional pork.
I just love this dish. It's so easy to make and so tasty!

 

[Hank]

This looks great, and forgive me but it reminds me of something my mom would make for us as kids long ago. Not sure if everyone knows about canned chicken ala king lol .. she would sometimes put it over rice.

View attachment 69660

Oh maaaaan. You figured me out!

 

[butzy]

Going back to the beginning of the month...
I was in our capital city and figured I better buy some rice vinegar and some rice wine as they will come in handy for this challenge. But I couldn't find any.
So what do you do? You start googling to see if you can make it yourself within the time frame. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way due to lack of time and lack of the necessary ingredients. But google got me to something I had never heard of: Horchata....
So I figured I will make that instead.
Plenty recipes out there and some quite different from the others (even one with boiled rice).
I decided to use a recipe that didn't use milk (normal, evaporated, or coconut) as I wanted the "original" taste. Remember I had never heard of this stuff before, let alone tried it
I sort of went for this recipe: https://www.thespruceeats.com/horchata-rice-drink-recipes-2342594

I ground the rice quite fine in my electric coffee grinder


Added cassia bark and kaffir lime zest (I had no "real" cinnamom and just finished my fresh limes)
And let it sit for a couple hours at room temperature.
To be honest: I don't really understand why they don't want you to grind the cinnamon and the rice together?


Then it said "use the blender to break down the cinnamon". Well, that's not easy with a stick blender. Should have done that at the start (see earlier remark). Then at some water and keep in the fridge.
After that, add remaining water.
It didn't say anything about straining, but I did that anyway as it looked way to gritty


I only made a quarter of the recipe as I was not too sure if I was going to like it
This is what I ended up with:


I added ice cubes before tasting.
It's not like anything I've had before. Definitely better ice and ice cold.
Next time I'll reduce cinnamon (cassia) and sugar as they were both a bit overpowering.
I think it would actually be a great summer drink with some fresh mint in it

Bonus picture for all of you in winter time:

 

[teamfat]

Wow. What a lot of great stuff here. Rice based brownies??

Almost done, one more day. Keep up the good work.

mjb.

 

[marketexpress]

Rice made an appearance in the monthly challenges back in September, 2014.

Challenge List

I figured this grain known around around the world was worth revisiting. So have at it. Paella, risotto, arroz con pollo, sushi, Rice Krispies treats. Middle East, India, many different countries and cuisines to explore. Rice noodles, forbidden rice, gluten free baking with rice flour. Perhaps wild rice and mushroom stuffed quail. Yes, for the sake of this challenge wild rice counts.

One thing I happen to like probably more than it deserves is plain old white rice with butter and soy sauce.

mjb.

Jollof rice!!!

 

[eastshores]

@butzy I'm always intrigued with your posts. I recall you live in S. Africa? Or maybe I have that wrong. What kind of wild beasts do you have stalking your compound? I'm in America-Australia .. aka Florida .. we have all sorts of beasts but I think some of the 400 lb wild boars would be the ones I don't want to tangle with!

 

[mike9]

@butzyI think some of the 400 lb wild boars would be the ones I don't want to tangle with!

I would definitely love to try my hand at butchering one though. I love ferule swine it's really delicious.

 

[harpua]

Wow. What a lot of great stuff here. Rice based brownies??

Almost done, one more day. Keep up the good work.

mjb.

I'm actually eating one as I'm typing this. Cold from the fridge, they have a stretchy, chewy texture. Don't know if you've had mochi before, but it's the most satisfying mouthfeel. Definitely making these again.

 

[butzy]

@butzy I'm always intrigued with your posts. I recall you live in S. Africa? Or maybe I have that wrong. What kind of wild beasts do you have stalking your compound? I'm in America-Australia .. aka Florida .. we have all sorts of beasts but I think some of the 400 lb wild boars would be the ones I don't want to tangle with!

Not in S Africa, but a bit further North, in Zambia.
No boar here!
But we have hippo, elephant, baboon, vervet monkey, crocodile, impala and warthog around the place where I am now, mostly in and on the other side of the river (in Zimbabwe)
I am actually fighting cows and goats more than anything! They keep trying to come in my garden

As soon as you get into the parks areas, you'll find plenty game.

 

[butzy]

Oh, and we need to extend this month!
I still need to make Nasi Kuning, Lemper, re-try my Lontong, I need to make Larb, and rice crackers. Rice paper, proper Dosa.....
Arghhh. Not enough time!

 

[mike9]

@butzy - is there ever enough time? LOL

 

[butzy]

Managed Nasi Kuning
Washed Jasmine rice several times

Added lemongrass

Bay leaf


And pandan leaf
And some ground turmeric and kaffit lime leaves


And water and coconut milk.
Mixed it all up

Boiled/steamed as usual (pic was taken after removing the leaves)

I had Rendang to go with it

No serving pictures. Sorry
My guests just tucked in and all got fimished

 

[harpua]

Managed Nasi Kuning
Washed Jasmine rice several times
View attachment 69668
Added lemongrass
View attachment 69669
Bay leaf
View attachment 69670

And pandan leaf View attachment 69671
And some ground turmeric and kaffit lime leaves
View attachment 69672

And water and coconut milk.
Mixed it all up
View attachment 69675
Boiled/steamed as usual (pic was taken after removing the leaves)
View attachment 69676
I had Rendang to go with it
View attachment 69674
No serving pictures. Sorry
My guests just tucked in and all got fimished

I've never had pandan in a savory dish before. This looks so awesome.

 

[Hank]

I almost didn't post this Timballo bacause it was such a fail coming out of the mold. But Mrs Hank saved it visually to some extent with a decent pic of the leftovers.

I poached some chicken thighs and made a stock which I will used to cook the rice.



I also made meatballs, half of which I fried and half of which I simmered in stock.



I had some leftover end bits of eggplant so I fried those up too.



I browned a sausage link, sliced it, and then added some marinara sauce and the fried meatballs.



I then buttered and bread crumbed a deep pan and layered the ingredients. Rice, half the chopped up chicken with the simmered meatballs, mozzarella cheese, egg plant, the sauce, meatballs and sausage mixture, more rice mixted with the rest of the chicken, and finally eggs and pecorino. I then baked it for about 40 minutes.





Not nearly as lovely as I had hoped. I tried to reassemble it but it was a mess. There are photos of the disaster below. Live and learn. I should have just mixed it all up and called it a casserole




.

 

[teamfat]

Okay. I'll be heading off to work in a couple of hours. I should get home around 7 am Mountain time. I'll go through all the wonderful entries for this challenge and hopefully pick a winner by noon tomorrow, Salt Lake time.

mjb.

 

[harpua]

I almost didn't post this Timballo bacause it was such a fail coming out of the mold. But Mrs Hank saved it visually to some extent with a decent pic of the leftovers.

I poached some chicken thighs and made a stock which I will used to cook the rice.

View attachment 69678

I also made meatballs, half of which I fried and half of which I simmered in stock.

View attachment 69677 View attachment 69680 View attachment 69679

I had some leftover end bits of eggplant so I fried those up too.

View attachment 69682

I browned a sausage link, sliced it, and then added some marinara sauce and the fried meatballs.

View attachment 69683

I then buttered and bread crumbed a deep pan and layered the ingredients. Rice, half the chopped up chicken with the simmered meatballs, mozzarella cheese, egg plant, the sauce, meatballs and sausage mixture, more rice mixted with the rest of the chicken, and finally eggs and pecorino. I then baked it for about 40 minutes.

View attachment 69684

View attachment 69685

Not nearly as lovely as I had hoped. I tried to reassemble it but it was a mess. There are photos of the disaster below. Live and learn. I should have just mixed it all up and called it a casserole




.

But how did it taste?