White Rice

            White rice is polished rice.  Polishing removes the hull and the bran.  It is more processed and has less fiber and nutritional value.  In most households white rice is most common.  It is very versatile in its uses and in combining flavors. 

 

Long grain rice (such as basmanti and jasmine) is all-purpose rice and makes fluffy rice.  Long grain rice is commonly used steamed as a side dish.  It is often mixed with seasonings and vegetables.  It can be cooked twice as in Spanish rice or fried rice.

 

Long grain on the left and short grain
on the right.  Generic long grain
and arborio on thee right

Short grain rice is shorter and wider.  Varieties of this rice are arborio, carnaroli, Valencia, and bella.  It is used for dishes like risotto, pudding, sushi and paella.  These are dishes that are creamy or dishes that the rice is shaped.

 

Left over rice can be added to soups, pancakes and waffles, main dishes, side dishes and desserts.  It can be used in appetizers, formed in balls and cups.

 

This Week’s Challenge – Try serving rice in a new way

 

            Rice is often served by itself in its fluffy state or mixed with other ingredients.  This week’s challenge is about presentation.  Think of a new way to present your rice.  It can be part of a dessert in a parfait glass, molded into shapes with molds, cookie cutters or my hand.  There are many appetizers that use rice as cups filled with something delicious or rolled into balls.

 I made a rice ring.

I cooked long grain rice in the rice cooker.

I took a ring mold.

I lined the mold with foil, making sure
that t tightly fit the mold and over
lapped the edges

I spoon the cooked, hot rice into the mold.

Tightly packed the rice.

 

Then inverted the mold on the serving dish/

 

Tip for this Week – Hand Shaping Rice

 

            Rice will stick together with little pressure.  Allow the rice to cool enough to handle it.  Wet your hands with water.  Place a small amount of rice in your hand and roll it into a ball.  It can be shaped in to rectangles and triangles, as well as balls and rolls.  Try rolling your shaped rice into sesame seeds, chopped nuts, freshly chopped herbs, or colorful spices like paprika or turmeric.  Ingredients can be hidden in the center for molded shapes, like a piece of meat, cheese, mashed beans or other vegetables or pickles.  Rice shapes can be dipped in batter and deep fried.  So get creative and invent something.

 

This Week in Punkin’s Kitchen

 

Green Rice

 

Green Rice in a casserole.

1 pack Broccoli, frozen chopped or one bunch fresh chopped

1 C      Rice, cooked with chicken bouillon cubes (3 C cooked)

3          Eggs, beaten

¼ C     Butter or margarine

¾ C     Onion chopped

1 can  Cream of mushroom soup

1 can  Cream of chicken soup

1 ½ C  Cheddar cheese, grated

2 cans  Chicken or  2 C boiled chicken

            Salt and pepper to taste

 

The ingredients

1.    In a skilled sauté the onions in the butter until the onions are nicely browned. 

 

In stead of using canned chicken, I dice two chicken
breasts and cooked them in chicken broth.

I reserved the broth using it to cook the rice.

 

2.    Mix the all the ingredients together.

 

Rice, chicken and onions.

The chopped leftover broccoli is added.

In a separate bowl I blended the eggs, soups
and melted butter.  Pour over the rice mixture
and stir to combine
 

 

3.    Place in a prepared casserole dish.

 

Spread it evenly in the baking dish.

Top with cheese and bake until hot and bubbly.

 

4.    Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.

 

 

Chocolate Rice Pudding

 

½ C     Rice, uncooked

¼ C     Cocoa

½ C     Sugar

1 t        Cinnamon, ground

½ t       Salt

3 C      Milk

1 t        Vanilla

 

The ingredients

5.    Mix the rice, cocoa, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a double boiler.

I used calrosa rice for this.  It s a short grain
rice used for Japanese cooking.

Mix the rice, sugar, cinnamon, salt and cocoa

Ad the milk and blend

Place the double boiler over a pan of boiling water,

 

6.    In a pot that fits the double boiler, bring water to a rolling boil. 

The double boiler should fit the pot so that the
bottom does not touch the water.

The pot lid fit the double boiler. 
I Allowed the milk to begin to boil,
reduce the heat to low and covered it

 

7.    Add the milk to the rice mixture and mix well.

8.    Place the double boiler over the water and cook one hour and 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

The pot covered.

I stirred it every 15 minutes.  The stirring is
important to prevent scorching and lumping.

It will thicken s the rice cooks.

 

9.    The milk should be absorbed and it should have a nice pudding texture.

Allow to cool slightly before adding the vanilla.

 

10. Remove the double boiler from the water and cool slightly.

11. Add the vanilla and mix well.

12. Refrigerate until serving.

13. Serve with thin cream or whipped cream.

 

Make 5 servings of ½ C.

 

I found the recipe in my grandmother’s recipes.  It is from Delicious, Quick, Easy Riceland Rice Recipes, copyrighted 1952

 

Fish of the Week

 

Tuna a la King

You will need to make a white sauce, or béchamel sauce.  See the posting on September 15, 2016.

Tuna a la King served over a rice ring

 

2 T                   Butter, unsalted

½ C                 Onions, finely chopped

3 T                   Flour

3 C                  Milk

Salt  and pepper to taste

1 t                    Thyme, dried leaves

1 lg. can         Tuna or albacore

½ c                  Peas, frozen

½ c                  Corn, frozen

 

The ingredients

I used albacore juice and all.

 

1.    In a large skillet melt the butter and sauté the onions until soft.

2.    Add the flour and make a roux, cooking to the blonde stage.

3.    Slowly add the milk, whisking to incorporate.

4.    Add the tuna, undrained and stir to blend.

Tuna, peas and corn added. Stir to  blend
and allow the peas and corn to cook.  This
 is a good time to taste and adjust the seasoning. 

 

5.    Add the peas and corn, cooking for a few minutes.

6.    Adjust the seasonings.

7.    Serve over toast or biscuits, rice, potatoes or pasta.

 

I made a rice ring to serve with this.

 

Slice and serve

I topped each serving will some grated Monterey jack cheese.

Note:  This is a great way to use leftover chicken or turkey, too.  Substitute 1-1½ C cooked leftover poultry for the tuna.  Also try adding different vegetables, herbs and spices.

 

Happy Cooking!

 

 

 

Tasting

            Tasking takes time.  Allow the food time to register on the taste buds. Smell is an important part of tasting and it is the first step in tasting.  Begin by absorbing the smell.  What can you determine from the scent or aroma? Take small bite.  Chew slowly moving the food around the mouth.  When we taste there is a combination of several of the tastes.  Taste is a chemical reaction to substances in the food being tasted.

 

 

Sweet

            Sweet is determined by the presence of various sugars.   It is usually considered very pleasant.  Sweetness can come from processed substances like sugar or syrups, but it also occurs natural in fruits and vegetables.

 

Salty

            Salty is determined by the presences of ions.  It can be a pleasant taste, but it can also overwhelm other flavors.  It enhances flavor in food and is a necessary part of nutrition.  Some foods love salt and need more than most foods, like potatoes and pasta.

 

Sour

            Sour is determines by the presence of acids, particularly hydrochloric acid.  It is commonly found in citrus and other fruit and some fermented substances like vinegar or wine. Acid has a way of making foods more vibrant in flavor and sometimes in color.  It is important in balancing the flavors on the plate.

 

Bitter

            Bitter is determined by a variety of substance.  It is often considered unpleasant or sharp.  It is considered the most sensitive of tastes and this may be due to many toxic substances are bitter.  Bitter is found in coffee, cocoa, olives, and some alcoholic beverages.

 

Unami

 

            Unami is a savory flavor.  It is a Japanese word that means pleasant savory taste. It is determined by the presence of glutamates.   It is present in meat broths and fermented foods like soy sauce.  Unami is also found in fish, seafood, mushrooms tomatoes and cabbage.

 

Other related taste sensations

Some of these can fit into the above categories.  Astringency is an aspect of sour and has to do with a pucker feeling and is often described as rough, dry, harsh and tart. Pungency describes the spicy hot that comes from capsaicin found in chili peppers and other ingredients like black pepper and other spices.  Metallicness is sometimes detected in food.  Coolness describes the sensation of cooling as associated with mint.

 

This Week’s Challenge

 

            The challenge for this week is to really taste at least one meal a day for the week.  It doesn’t have to be an elaborate meal.  Slow down and enjoy what you are eating.  If you think you need a checklist or some other aid, research evaluating food online.  Record what you experience.  Make notes on what you learn from each tasting.  Focus on the tasting rather than the evaluating of the food. If you can, explore new tastes or cuisines this week.

           

This Week’s Tip

            Some tastes are opposite or counteract other tastes.  For instance if you are using a sweet ingredient and expect that it will make the dish unbalanced add a sour ingredient like lemon juice or vinegar counteract the sweetness and bring the dish into balance.  Sweet and sour are opposites.

           

 

This Week in Punkin’s Kitchen

           

Caribbean Chicken Curry

 

1 qt.                 Chicken broth or water

12 oz.             Chicken, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces

½ med.           Onion, diced

1 C                  Squash, sliced

2 C                  Pumpkin, diced or other winter squash

1 C                  Okra, sliced, fresh or frozen

1 T                   Caribbean Curry Powder

                        Salt and pepper to taste

 

1.    Place a heavy pot over medium heat and add the broth.

Chicken in the broth

 

2.    When the broth begins to simmer, add the vegetables and cook for 20 minutes.

Sliced onion.  Also add sliced squash, diced pumpkin
and sliced okra.

 

3.    Add the chicken and seasonings and cook another 10 minutes.

4.    Taste and adjust seasonings.

 

Note:  The okra will thicken the curry.   A tablespoon of corn starch dissolved in a little water can be added with the chicken.   Other vegetables can be added.

 

 

 

            Mexican Wedding Cookies

 

1 C      Butter, softened at room temperature

½  C    Powder sugar

1 t        Vanilla

2 ¼ C  Flour

¼ t       Salt

¾ C     Chopped pecans

 

The ingredients

1.    Mix butter, sugar and vanilla thoroughly.  Add flour and salt. 





Soften butter and powder sugar.

Creamed with vanilla added.



Nuts added.

Add the flour gradually.

 

2.    Mix thoroughly.  Add nuts.  The dough may be crumbly.  This is okay. 

3.    Chill dough for two hours.

4.    Heat oven to 400 degrees. 

5.    Roll the dough into one inch balls.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.  The cookies do not flatten or spread out.

 

Roll into one inch balls.  The will not
spread out.  Bake until just beginning
to turn brown.

While still warm, roll in powder sugar.

 

6.    Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until set but not brown. 

7.    While still warm roll in powder sugar.  The sugar will melt.

 

8.    Allow to cool. 

9.    Roll a second time in power sugar.  The first rolling gives the second sugar rolling to have something to hold on to.  This is the most important step it.

The cookies on the left have been rolled once. 
The cookies on the right have been rolled twice.

 

 

Makes about four dozen cookies.

 

 

The cookies may also be rolled in colored sugar.  Color sugar by place ½ cup granulated sugar in a jar.  Add a few drops of food coloring.  Close the jar and shake the sugar until all the sugar is colored.

 

 

 

Vegetable of the Week

           

Broccoli with Roasted Peppers

 

Steamed broccoli with roasted peppers

            Fresh broccoli, enough to provide the necessary servings.

1 jar     Roasted peppers or pimentos

2 T       Butter, melted

 

Ingredients

1.    In a saucepan with a lid. Place a steaming tray and enough water to cover the bottom of the pan with about an inch of water.

Cover the bottom of the pan with about and inch
water so that the water level is below the
bottom of the steam tray.

 

2.    Place the pan on high heat to bring the water to a boil.

3.    Clean and trim the broccoli into florettes.  Place the broccoli in the steamer and cover the pan with the lid.

Trim the florettes

 

4.    The broccoli will cook in a few minutes depending on the quantity.  It is important not to overcook it.  Remember it will continue cooking after it is removed from the steam.

Place the broccoli un the steam tray and cover.

 



Steam broccoli until almost done.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



While the butter melts, remove the broccoli
and peppers from the steam tray. 



Drain the peppers and place over the broccoli.
Cover and let the pepper warm up.



 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.    Remove the broccoli and place it in a serving dish.  Add the peppers and toss with the broccoli.  The hot broccoli with heat up the peppers or you can add them to the steamer a few minutes before the broccoli is done.

Remove from the steam tray to a serving dish.

 

6.    Add the melted butter and toss.  Olive oil and also be used.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Toss the broccoli and peppers very gently.
Sprinkle with a little melted butter and serve.