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Monday, July 13, 2009

Saffron Rice Pilaf

I have all my mail sent to my sister in-law's house in California. I am just not ready to get all my bills yet. They stress me out. I collect my mail from her when she comes to Utah or I go to California. When I went to California in June, Jacque presented me with 6 months worth of Bon Appetit magazines and Gourmet magazines. It was like Christmas, Easter and my birthday all in one. I spent the drive home completely consumed with anxiety. Anxiety of not enough time to cook all the great recipes I found in those pages. I am a ripper and I ripped recipes out for hours. I have piles and piles of ripped recipes from all kinds of magazines and I should really get around to filing them. What is your method of organizing your magazine rippings?

Here is a product of my rippings, courtesy of Gourmet, I think.



1 tsp saffron threads
2 Tbsp hot water
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup sliced almonds
1 large onion, diced
3 cups white basmati rice
4 1/2 cups water
2 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds black pepper

In a small bowl, combine the saffron and the hot water. Let the saffron seep while you prepare the rice.

In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan, add the almonds. Fry the almonds, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer almonds to a paper towel to drain.

Fry onion in the oil left in the pan. Cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add rice and stir constantly until rice is fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add saffron mixture, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover and reduce heat to low and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Let rice stand, covered, off heat for 5 minutes.

Serve rice with almonds on top.

Yields 8 servings

Served with this: salmon cakes, leftover corn saute

Rookie's Notes: This makes A LOT. So be prepared for leftovers. Or just cut the recipe in half. Or give some to your little sister like I did.

4 comments:

keely said...

When I got married, my dear sister threw me a kitchen shower. Her gift to me was a homemade cookbook- a binder filled with some her favorites, organized by type, stuffed into plastic sleeves or glued prettily onto pretty paper. 5 1/2 years later, I've outgrown 2 binders and it's not as pretty as she once made it, but I use it all the time. Best gift ever!

Frieda Loves Bread said...

I get my recipes on line and file them in a folder on my desk top. The list is building faster than I can make them!

I must have inherited the collecting gene from my mom, who clipped newspaper recipes and had a cupboard full of 'em.

Jamie said...

I love rice..it's the carb freak in me! This looks really tasty! :)

Ingrid_3Bs said...

You have your mail sent to your sister in law's? That's interesting. I'll be honest I have some questions but they're none of my business. a question I can ask...how big a difference is there between basmati rice and long grain?
~ingrid