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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Cardamom Rice Pilaf

Cardamom Rice Pilaf

This dish didn’t get above a rating of 3 in my house.  I served it with grilled chicken breasts and grilled asparagus.  The cardamom seeds didn’t seem to add the flavor that I tasted when I broke a pod open and nibbled on one of the dark seeds inside (and spat out coz Dorie said don’t eat them).  That little seed packed some punch so I was surprised when all of them within the casing didn’t come through.  I even bruised the pod as suggested.  I used vegetable broth and that darkened the rice which didn’t add any appeal.  This made me think of another rice dish, but a much better one.
An Indian friend of mine gave me a simple rice recipe using peas, onion, and basmati rice which is delish!  Put some butter (1 or 2 Tsp) in a saucepan, add chopped sweet onion (1 small or ½ large), sauté until the onion is translucent.  Add 1 cup basmati rice and 2 cups of water.  Cook for about 15 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally so as to not stick.  When creamy and cooked, add ½ can of peas including some of the liquid (any kind work) and salt and pepper.  Of course you can add more or less of any butter, peas, salt, pepper to your taste. I called it Renu Rice after my friend.  
The word rice pilaf always conjures up a funny moment in my past.  My sister and I had traveled to one of Atlantic City’s casinos some 25 years ago, looking to meet up with a friend (we didn’t find our friend however).  We had a little money with us, got hungry and decided to go to one of the food places to get a quick bite.  I got french fries and my sister liked the sound of rice pilaf so she ordered it.  When it arrived she was more than a little disappointed and it was just rice with some seasoning.  It didn’t have much flavor.  When I told my sister about this week’s recipe she laughed and then we both had a laugh over the fancy sounding dish that didn’t deliver.
Try my Renu rice and let me know if you like it.  Sorry, Dorie, I won’t be making this one again unless someone posts an interesting variation of it.  It’s always fun though.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  Thanks to our armed forces for their continued service to our country and remembering those that have long since passed.

5 comments:

  1. This one wasn't the biggest hit in my house either - I liked it, but thought it needed a little something (but couldn't place my finger on it).

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  2. Your renu rice sounds delish! Thanks for the recipe!

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  3. Sorry this wasn't a winner for y'all - it looks wonderful, especially with the chicken and asparagus! Happy Memorial Day to you and yours! :)

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  4. I added the empty pods back to the rice, making sure we didn't eat them. Maybe that helped infuse more flavor into the dish.

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  5. Cute recollections about pilaf :) And Nana and I completely agreed with your "pilaf schmilaf" thoughts when going into this week. We completely expected to be underwhelmed by the results but we ended up both really being pleased. Not sure if it was because our expectations were SO low or if we really liked the dish :) Either way, happy it was simply. Thanks for sharing the other recipe since I am now in the "rice mood".....

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