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!

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is an American holiday that takes time to give thanks for the many blessing we have.  Traditionally it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.  Friends and family get together to celebrate what they are thankful for with a huge feast.  It is a historical celebration of the first good harvest of settler in the Massachusetts Colony.  It came after very harsh winters and hard times as the settler began to eke out a living from the land.

We all have so much to be thankful for.  This is why I love this holiday. It can be the blessing of friends and family, personal blessings in your life, telling others how they have bless you, or thinking about special ways to bless others.  It is a time of family and friends.

 

A new tradition becoming more popular is Friendsgiving on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Friends spend Thanksgiving with their families and celebrate the next day with friends.  My nephew has celebrated this with a huge circle of friends for many years.  This year my neighbors will get together for our first Friendsgiving.  Usually these get-togethers are potluck.

 

Traditionally turkey is served as the focal point of the meal.  Many families also serve ham or roast beef. Mashed potatoes, gravy cornbread stuffing and cranberry sauce are also traditional.  Various seasonal side dishes are add like baked yams, green bean casserole, waldorf salad, Jell-O salads, winter squash, Brussel sprouts, corn dishes, hot breads and other seasonal vegetables,  Dessert is traditionally pumpkin pie, apple pie and pecan pie are also popular and other sweets like cookies and cakes.  It is also very interesting that different regions of the county have their traditional dishes.  There are ethnic additions as well.  Families tend to have wat is celebrated at feasts in their culture, for instance pasta is usually served in Italian American homes.

 

A Thanksgiving Menu

Roast Turkey

Cornbread Stuffing

Turkey gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Corn Casserole (posted below)

Holiday Sweet Potatoes (posted 11-23-2015)

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts (posted 5-7-2016)

Green Salad

Cranberry Sauce

Candied Apples (posted 11-23-2015)

Hot Cloverleaf Refrigerator Rolls (posted 11-22-2015)

Butter

Nuts

Olives

Pickles

Pumpkin Pie (posted 10-29-2016)

Apple Pie

Pecan Pie (posted below)

Whipped cream

Ice cream

 

 

This Week’s Challenge - Thanksgiving menu

 

             This year record the entire menu for Thanksgiving right down to the relishes and extras like butter and honey for the biscuits.  Note the family tradition dishes.  The ones you dare not serve or everyone will be disappointed.  We like to add a new dish or two each year.  Some become favorites and other fall by the wayside.

 

Tip for this Week – Don’t discard the giblets

 

            Even if your family with not eat the organs of the turkey, they can be put to good use.  We take the neck, heart, liver and gizzard and boil then into a broth.  The broth can be used on the stuffing and to stretch the gravy.  The meat from the neck and the heart, liver and gizzard can be finely chopped and add to the gravy for giblet gravy.  If your family will not eat this, the cooked organs can be given to the pets as their Thanksgiving treat.

 

This Week in Punkin’s Kitchen

 

Punkin’s Corn Casserole

My family loves this recipe.  It is softer and sweeter than cornbread, more like a spoonbread.  There usually isn’t anything left.

The ingredients

Melt the butter

Add the eggs and the cornbread mix.

Blend well

Add the cheese, sour cream, salt and
pepper

On the left is regular corn and on the
right is the creamed corn.

Add one can corn slightly drained
and all the creamed corn

Blend well

Pour into a prepared pan and bake

It should stay together, but is much softer
than corn bread.

print recipe

Punkin's Corn Casserole

by Grace Barnes November-19-2016

My family loves this recipe. It is softer and sweeter than cornbread, more like a spoonbread. There usually isn’t anything left.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C Butter, melted
• Two Eggs
• 1 pkg. 8.5 oz. Cornbread mix (Jiffy)
• 1 Can (15 oz.) Corn,kernel or sweet
• 1 Can (14.75 oz.) Creamed style corn
• 1/2 C Sour cream
• 1 1/2 C Grated cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees,2. Prepare and 9” X 9” baking dish, by buttering the dish or spraying with Pam.3. Mix the butter, eggs, cornbread mix together.4. Add both cans of corn, sour cream and one cup cheese.5. Pour into the prepared baking dish.6. Bake for 45 minutes or until top in browned.7. Top the hot casserole with the remaining cheese.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 1 hour Yield: 8 servings

 

Pecan Pie

 

 

This is based on the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, but I added some southern touches and increased the amount of pecans.  Sometimes I use some corn syrup and some molasses.

 

 

The ingredients

Prepare the pie crust or use crust that is
already prepared and set it aside.

Cream the butter and brown sugar

I usually use a fork to cream this

Add the eggs one at a time, making
sure the egg is incorporated before
adding the next.  Then add the syrup,
vanilla and salt,

Place the pecans in the bottom of the pie
crust and pour the egg mixture of them.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes
then reduce to 350 degrees.

The finished pecan pie

 

print recipe

Pecan Pie

by from Joy of Cooking November-19-2016

This is based on the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, but I added some southern touches and increased the amount of pecans. Sometimes I use some corn syrup and some molasses.

Ingredients

• One Pie crust, uncooked
• 1/2 C Butter, softened
• 1 C Brown sugar, firmly packed
• 5 Eggs
• 1/2 C Light corn syrup or molasses
• 1 t Vanilla or 1 T rum
• 1/2 t Salt
• 1-1 ½ C Pecan nut meats

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 450 degrees. 2. Prepare the pie shell 3. Cream the butter and brown sugar. 4. Beat in the eggs one at a time. 5. Stir in the corn syrup or molasses, vanilla or rum, and the salt. 6. Place the pecan in the pie shell and pour the filling over them. 7. Bake for 15 minutes.. 8. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. It is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 1 hour 5 mins Yield: one 9 " deep dish

 

Soup of the Week

 

Leek and Lentil Soup

 

This is simple soup.  You can add celery or carrots if you like.  Kick it up a notch with some cayenne pepper or chili powder.

 

Clean the leeks and thinly slice

Saute in oil in the bottom of the soup pot

Add the lentils and cover with water.
Add the thyme, salt and pepper and
simmer until the lentils are tender

print recipe

Leek and Lentil Soup

by Grace Barnes November-19-2016

This is simple soup. You can add celery or carrots if you like. Kick it up a notch with some cayenne pepper or chili powder.

Ingredients

• One or Two Leeks, thorough cleaned and thinly sliced
• 2 t Olive or canola oil
• One sm. bag (1 lb.) Brown lentils
• 1 t Thyme, fresh or dried
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Wash and sliced the leeks.2. Heat the oil in the bottom of a soup kettle.3. Cook the leeks until soft.4. Add enough water to cover the leeks.5. Add the lentils and adjust the water level.6. Add the thyme, salt and pepper.7. Simmer until the lentils are soft, about 30-40 minutes.8. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 6-8 servings

Happy Cooking!