Day 36: Husband's Easy Fancy Rice with Salsa- April 7, 2014

Everyone who cooks has one or two dishes that he or she will become known for making, and that dish becomes a signature item for that cook.  In our house, Husband is the one who is in charge of making a fancy rice as one of his favourite dishes that need to be made in a pinch. And, the only reason that we call it fancy is because it looks beautiful when served, goes with many dishes, and seems like something special to serve.  But, our secret is revealed!  Fancy rice is really easy to make.

To start to make fancy rice, you just have to have three things on hand -- rice, oil (olive is our preference) and salsa.  That is the ingredient that can make or break this dish!  Salsa is another term for sauce.  The main ingredients in salsa vary, depending on the brand or the heat (spiciness) of the salsa.  The main ingredients include tomatoes, onion, chili peppers, and cilantro.  Some salsas have different kinds of tomatoes, or different types of chili peppers which can change the overall flavour of the salsa.  There are many salsas on the market that have corn, black beans, green tomatoes, some are cooked, others are raw.  You have to decide which one you like the best, but for our fancy rice, we use a typical tomato salsa.  In fact, we used Chi-Chi's brand salsa (medium heat).

We used to love going to Chi-Chi's restaurant when it existed.  It was a good salsa then, and being able to sit there and enjoy some chips and salsa while waiting for dinner was always a special treat.  When we found the Chi-Chi's salsa in the store we had to buy it to bring back our memories.  Of course, our reminiscing was great for the first portion of the bottle, but it was a big bottle, so we had to make something else.  Fancy rice seemed like the right answer.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

2 cups rice
3 1/2 cups water
1 cup salsa
a little olive oil (about 2-3 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoons salt
optional: two dashes Montreal Steak Spice

First, Husband rinses the rice very well.  Put it in a strainer and let the cold water run through the rice to wash away any residue and to help sort out if there are any stones in the rice (that happens sometimes). Then, put that in a large, microwave safe bowl (we used a large Pyrex measuring cup because it has a handle to make it easy to lift).

Add the water to the rice.  Allow the rice to soak in the water for about five minutes.  You will see the water turn a cloudy colour, and that is okay.  That is likely just some of the starch from the rice.  The typical ratio for making rice is 1:2, which means 1 cup of rice needs 2 cups of water to cook properly.  There are some recipes that will use a 1 : 1 1/2 ratio, and that usually means there is another liquid involved to compensate for the lost water -- like this recipe.  The amount of water that "seems to be missing" is to make space for the salsa to become part of the cooking liquid.  This gives you a little more than a 1:2 ratio in measurements, but remember that the salsa also has solid chunks in it to make up for some of that inequity.

Allow the rice to soak in the water for about 5 minutes before adding the salsa.

Add the salsa to the water and rice and mix well.  You want to make sure that the salsa is mixed well through the rice.  Then, it will be time to make a little magic happen!

Now, it is time to add a bit of salt.  Now, we say it is a bit, without an actual measurement, we shook the salt about three times.  You want to add enough salt to enhance the taste of the salsa, as if you were making regular rice.  For some, one shake of salt is too much, and for others, three shakes will not be enough.  Add a little salt to this recipe to help with the cooking process of the rice.  It does make a difference in the end dish.

Then, add a drizzle of oil.  We made a circle around the top of the measuring cup -- just one circle around.  You do not need more than one circle of oil.  The oil will rise to the top and look useless in the recipe, especially since many salsas have oil in them.  But, this little extra oil adds to the creamy, moist texture of the final product.  It is a little oil, probably not more than a tablespoon.

This next step is optional.  Husband added a sprinkle of Montreal Steak Spice.  This may not be something that you have in your spice rack, so you can omit it.  If we did not have the Steak Spice, we would have omitted this completely.  But, in our house, Montreal Steak Spice is something that Husband adds to EVERYTHING!  Yes, every recipe has a little steak spice.  It is a combination of peppers, garlic, onions, and seasonings.  It has a unique flavour, a coarse texture, and a memorable impact.  One of our friends tells us how he grinds the steak spice in a coffee grinder and sprinkles it in everything.  He grinds it because it is less noticeable and less obvious, but still gets added to everything he makes.  So, if you have some sort of steak spice, sprinkle some in the rice.  This is our secret ingredient.

Once all the ingredients are in the microwave safe bowl (our measuring cup), mix one more time and put the bowl into the microwave.    Use a cover over the bowl or measuring cup.  We used a typical microwave plate cover, so you know you don't need a fitted lid, just something to stop any splashing.  It is a good idea to use a lid of some sort over anything you put in the microwave oven.

At full power (level 10), cook the rice in the  microwave for 15 minutes.  The rice will not be fully cooked at 15 minutes, but you will see the progress of the cooking process and be able to judge how much more time is needed.  We used a Pyrex measuring cup which actually made the cooking process a little longer than if we had used a regular glass bowl.  For some reason, Pyrex being as thick as it is,  makes the cooking time longer.  If you are using a typical ceramic or glass bowl, you may be closer to done than we were at this point.  Mix the rice and make that decision.

After mixing the rice well, to make sure all the ingredients are distributed, continue to cook the rice in the microwave for another 5 minutes.  You will now continue to cook the rice in 5 minute increments until the rice is fully cooked and soft.  Of course, you will be looking for the liquid to be fully absorbed, which would indicate that the rice should be done.  But to be sure, taste the rice and make sure that there is no crunch left.  We took a total of 25 minutes to cook 2 cups of rice.  We cooked on the full power of the microwave.

When the rice is soft, mix it well one more time to make sure all the little chunks from the salsa are evenly distributed.  Allow the rice to sit for about 5 minutes to set up.  It will be moist, almost creamy when it comes out of the bowl.  Then, you serve the rice either in a bowl, or as we did -- a moulded shape.  It will be dry enough to hold its shape, but moist enough to enjoy.  You can see the little bits and pieces of tomato and pepper from the salsa, and you can see the flakes from the Montreal Steak Spice.  This rice becomes a festival on a plate!

To make the rice extra fancy, warm a small amount of salsa to top the rice.  It adds a little more zing, a little more colour, and a few more memories to talk about later in time.  We wanted to be extra fancy for ourselves, so we put the rice in a mould and added salsa on top.  It is nice to do something special for yourself once in a while.    

"As Christians we are here to affirm the supreme value of direct sharing, of immediate encounter —not machine to machine, but person to person, face to face."

Bishop Kallistos Ware "The Mystery of the Human Person"

Source of quote: http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html