#78 Rice Cookbook

#78 Rice Cookbook

When I was a kid there were two kinds of rice, rice and Uncle Ben's Converted Rice. I was never real sure what "converted" rice was but I knew we couldn't afford it. After I was married, I considered myself very posh because I could have "Minute Rice". In just 5 minutes I could have a dish full of mutated, plastic tasting muck. Yum, I actually liked it. Then something happened in the 90's, I discovered "Rice" and the heavens opened.

What a difference in taste and texture. In my humble little home, I have no fewer than 9 different types in my cabinet, there would be 10 but I'm out of Glutinous-sticky rice. It's also rather amazing, if I was blindfolded and put to the test, I bet I could tell the difference between them all. Of course they would have to be cooked correctly, there's an art to that.

So what kinds do I have you ask. There are long and short grained white, a brown short grain from Australia, a Mediterranean Arborio, a Thai Jasmine, a long grained Basmati, Wild Rice and Dirty Rice. Okay I threw the last one in to see if you were paying attention. Dirty Rice is just dirty because of the stuff that's added to it. I also have Minute Rice but I swear I don't use it any more unless I'm really rushed. Also Wild Rice is more of a grass seed than a rice but they call it rice and it's in this book so it's good enough for me.

We had kind relatives who lived in Minnesota and they would often send us a package of Wild Rice, which grows there, for Christmas. This was a very treat since at one time it was worth it's weight in gold. It is wonderful, rich and nutty and it makes neat curls when it cooks. I have a Thanksgiving Soup recipe I make that uses it and everyone loves it. Now they can grow it in lots more places, this one came from Ontario and it's cheap enough to use more than just once a year.

Of course if you're cooking risotto, don't even start without a good Arborio rice. It's really worth all the stirring when you taste the creamy texture. I make one and place big grill scallops on top, it's so good! Then you need the Thai for coconut rice and I could eat Basmati anytime, with anything. Looking back it's hard to believe I used to make the family eat only Minute Rice, I just didn't know any better. So cookbook #78 is Rice Cookbook from the Australian Women's Weekly series. My sister just found 5 of these cookbooks at an estate sale last week. She'll enjoy them I'm sure.

#31 Chef Paul Prudhomme's Pure Magic

#31 Chef Paul Prudhomme's Pure Magic

I needed a dish for a potluck last night and decide to go with something different so I used the recipe on page 24 for Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo. My clever husband even managed to find me okra which you don't see very often up here in the North so I threw that in too.

I've had some pretty good Cajun food in my time. We lived in St. Louis for many years and that's right on the Mississippi River but I'm sure it can't compare to what you would get in New Orleans. Oh how I want to go there someday and just EAT! I want to suck the heads of juicy crawfish and sop up the gravy from a jambalaya with corn bread. I want oysters and beignets and Po'boys and pralines, well you get the idea, I want to EAT!

We actually do have a couple of "cajun" restaurants here in town but I'm very sure they have never even heard of file (Fee-lay) powder. One place just adds spicy heat to their dishes until it's painful to eat. I like spicy but I want to taste what I'm eating. We've given them all a try but it's just too sad. My buddy Wendy and I did get together a while back and cooked a complete cajun meal with blackened fish, dirty rice and everything. Next time we'll do it at her house, the smoke was terrible or maybe we'll do it outside when things warm up.

Wendy HAS been to New Orleans and she brought me back the real deal file and even a box of beignet mix, yum. Before she left on her trip I tried to save her from some embarrassment. I told her, "when you order a piece of pecan pie down there and I know you will, it's pecan (peh-cahn), not PEE CAN". Of course she didn't listen and the waitress looked at her in disgust and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "PEE CAN, that's what grandma keeps under her bed!" I did warn her.

I'll get to New Orleans someday but in the mean time this turned out pretty good and everyone tried a sample. I know my roux probably should have been darker but I chickened out before it reached the dark red-brown color they suggest. So the cookbook for today is #31 Chef Paul Prudhomme's Pure Magic.