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!

 

 

 

Cream Soups

            Cream soups are made with cream or milk.  They may be pureed or have the milk or cream added to the finished soup.  Usually the soup is made and the milk cream or our dairy product like yogurt or sour cream are added just before the soup is served  Never allow the soup to boil after a dairy product is added as this will cause it to curdle.  It is a good idea to allow the soup to cool slightly off the heat before adding the cream.  It is best to allow the cream to be room temperature before adding to the soup.  Remember the cream with lower the temperature. If it is necessary to raise the temperature, lower the heat and watch it very carefully, not allowing it to boil.

 

Vegetable cream soups are made from vegetables cooked in water and the cream is added just before the soup is finished and served.  The soup can be made with vegetables and seasonings.  Once the soup is finished, it may be pureed and the cream added.  When finishing the soup it is important not to allow it to cool too much. 

 

Cream soups with meat bases are made with broth or cooking meats in water to make a broth.  The soup is finished and the cream is added just before serving.  Cream soups can be made from meats or they may have a broth base, as the cream of asparagus soup below.  Broth does add flavor.

 

 

This Week’s Challenge – Making roux

Roux is flour cooked in butter and thinned with milk or cream.  Melt butter is a saucepan, add an equal amount of flour and cook stirring the flour.   Once the flour is incorporated and cooked to the desired color milk is added a little at a time to make a sauce.  Roux can be white to dark brown depending on the recipe.  The darker the longer the roux is cooked.  Roux can be used to thicken soups and sauces.  It is the base of white sauce and country gravy.

The challenge this week is to make a roux. Use it as a thickening for soup or in a sauce.  Record this in your journal and be thinking how you can use roux in different ways.  Try some of your ideas.

.

 

Tip for this Week – Thickening soups (with roux or cornstarch)

            Occasionally we all make cooking mistakes or misjudgments.  The sign of good cook is adapting and repairing these mistakes.  Sometimes a new technique is learned.  So what if your soup has too much liquid.  You could remove some of the liquid, but you would be removing some flavor.  There are several ways to thicken soup. Mixing flour or cornstarch in some cold water and adding it to the soup will often do the trick. Make sure there are no lumps and stir while adding the mixture to the soup.  Allow it to cook into the soup.  Another way is to make a roux and add this to the soup.  Be sure to stir constantly until the roux is incorporated.  Sometimes pureeing the soup with thicken it, but it depends on the type of soup you are making.  Adding cheese will also thicken soup. Other thickeners can be bread crumbs, masa or corn meal.  It depends on what will go with what you are cooking.

 

This Week in Punkin’s Kitchen

 

Papa’s Potato Soup

 

3-4                  Large potatoes, washed, peeled, and diced

½ red  Onion, finely chopped

2-4                  Celery stalks, sliced

                        Water to cover

                        Salt and pepper to taste

I C                   Milk

2-4 T               Butter

 

The ingredients

 

 

1.    Melt 2 T of the butter in a soup pot.

2.    Added the onion and celery and sauté until the onion begins to turn translucent.
 

 

 

3.    Prepare the potatoes and place in a soup pot.   

 

Cut the potatoes lengthwise and then across.

Try to keep the dices in equal sizes so
they will cook evenly



Saute the potatoes with the celery and onions

 

4.    Add water to just cover and salt and pepper. 

 

 

 

5.    Simmer the potatoes until tender allowing the water to reduce. 

 

 

Potatoes are tender and the water has cooked down.

Add the milk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.    Once the potatoes are tender, remove enough water to leave the top of the potatoes out of the water. 

7.    Add enough milk to make the soup and add the butter
 

 

Cook until the butter is melted, but do not allow it to boil.

 

8.    Heat just until the butter melts, do not allow to boil.  Serve hot. 

 

Adjust the seasonings and garnish with freshly chopped parsley

 

 

This may also be pureed.

 

Cream of Asparagus Soup

 

                        One bunch asparagus, chopped

2 Cans           Chicken broth

½ C                 Onions, chopped

2 T                   Butter

                        Salt and pepper to taste

1 Can             Evaporated milk or

½ C                 Cream or half and half

 

The ingredients

 

1.    Sautee the onions in the butter until soft and beginning to turn translucent. 



 

 

Sautee the onions

 

This asparagus was very thin.  I wouldn't
choose it for a side dish, since this
was going into soup it worked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Chop the asparagus into one inch
pieces and add to the pot.



Save some tips for garnish later.

 



 

2.    Add the chicken broth and chopped asparagus, reserving some tips for garnish.

 

 

Add the broth and cook until the
asparagus is tender.

 

 

 

3.    Bring the soup to a boil and simmer until the asparagus is tender about 20 minutes. 

4.    Puree in a blender and return to the soup pot. 


 

 

 

I used a stick blender to puree the soup.

Puree until smooth.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.    Bring the soup to just below the boiling point and add the milk or cream.  Do not allow the soup to boil once the milk or cream is added. 

 

 

I prefer to use heavy cream, bur half and half
or milk work well.

Blend to incorporate the cream, but
don't allow it to boil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.    Finely chop the reserved asparagus tips to use to garnish each bowl of soup.

 

Finely chop the asparagus tips or leave
them whole to garnish the soup

 

 

 

Variations:  Leftover cooked vegetables may be used. This is a basic cream soup recipe and many other vegetables may be substituted for the asparagus.  Experiment with different herbs as well.  For example cream of carrot soup is great with a hint of ginger and thyme.  Cream of broccoli soup goes well with grated cheese.

 

Vegetable of the Week

 

           

Roasted Chilies

            There a several methods of roasting peppers.  Grilling the peepers or toasting them on an open flame will work.  I prefer to roast them under the broiler.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place the pepper on the sheet.  Place the sheet under the broiler.  Check in about five minutes.  The goal is to char and blister the pepper.  Once there is some charring, turn the peppers and continue roasting until the pepper is charred and blistered all over.  Immediately place the roasted peppers in a large Ziploc bag and allow to cool.  When the peppers are cool, remove the charred skins.  They should slip off. Cut a slit along the length of the pepper and butterfly it open.  Remove the seeds, veins and stem part of the pepper.  The peeper is ready for use.  It may be left whole, sliced or diced.

place the chilies on a baking sheet and
place it under the broiler.

Check every 3-5 mintues and turn the
chilies as they char and blister.

The chilies are done when they are charred and
blistered on all sides.

Place them in a Ziploc bag to cool.

 

Take a chilies out of the Ziploc and the remove
the stem and skin.  It should peel off easily.

Once the skin is removed, slice down one
side of the chile.

Butterfly the chilies (open it out flat) and
remove the seeds and fibers inside.

Slice the chilies into strips  The strips can be diced.
But we will leave them in strips for the recipe below.

Poblano Rajas

A rajas taco

 

Makes about 2 cups

1 lb.                 Poblano peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and cut into strips

1 T                   Canola oil

1 med.            Red onion, diced
2                      Garlic cloves

1/2 t                 Dried oregano, preferably Mexican

Salt and pepper to taste

2 C                  Grated cheese (one package quesa fresca)

The ingredient

1.    Roast the peppers and place in a plastic Ziploc bag to cool.

2.    Cut the dice onion. Heat the oil at medium heat in a skillet. Add the red onion, cook for 5-7 minutes until translucent and slightly browned.
 

 

I usually use red onion, this time I used a shallot.

Add garlic and continue cooking. 
Then add the pablano strips.



 

 

 

 

 

 

3.    Removed the skins from the peppers, slice open and removed the seeds and veins.  Then slice into thin strips. 

4.    Add the garlic to the onions and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

5.    Add the poblanos and oregano to the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

Continue sautéing until heated through.

I love using quesa fresca, but many cheeses
work very well.  I sometimes use Pepper Jack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.     Cook until heated through and add the cheese. 

7.    Stir until cheese is melted.

 

Add the cheese and cook until melted.

The rajas is ready to use.

 

 

 

 

 

Rajas taco o a grilled tortilla.

 

 

NOTE:  I cover this with grated cheese and continue to cook until the cheese is melted.  Rajas great on quesadillas, tacos, burritos and gorditas

Based on http://saraskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/06/quesadillas-with-poblano-rajas.html

 

Happy Cooking!