To make Spanish Rice

As making rice can be a really tricky feat, it intimidated me for a long time. My road to succesful rice was paved with sticky soggy rice,crunchy rice, and much frustration.However, thanks mostly to Diana Kennedy, I was able to conquer this tricky grain. Since there is a large margin of error, I’ll explain how to make it in stages, rather than a traditional recipe format.

Ingredients that you need:

3 Cups (dry) Medium grain rice (a medium grain jasmine will do)

1 large Yellow Onion (or 2 medium)

1 Tomato, ripe

1 can Tomato paste ( small can)

Several cloves of garlic, peeled

1 generous handful fresh cilantro (also known as coriander)

sea salt (kosher is best)

Some vegetable/canola/corn oil. Any oil for high temp. cooking      

                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Put the rice in a bowl, cover with one inch of warm water and set aside. Peel the onion and cut into quarters, then cut the quarters in half and add to food processor. Drizzle with a little oil and pulse several times. Remove the food processor lid and stir the onion to help facilitate even chopping. Replace lid and use the on function until the onion has been pureed. At this point it should cease to look like onion, and more like clear oatmeal. Quarter the tomato and add it to the processor and allow it to run until it resembles this.

Add in garlic cloves and enough tomato paste to turn the mix a lovely deep red color 

Now, add in the cilantro and about a teaspoon of salt to the processor. Make sure you soak the cilantro briefly in a bowl of warm water ( it usually has dirt on the leaves. Warm water works to perk up even the saddest bunches). Puree until it looks like this.

Grab a pot. It is important for rice to choose a pan that is the right size. I always use the same pan to make this, it is 4” inches deep and about 9.5” wide. Pick a pan that is wider than tall. A thicker pan is also better, since rice is prone to sticking to the bottom. 

Add about 1/3 C. oil to the pan & turn up the heat (high). While your oil is heating grab a strainer and drain the rice completely. Place a few grains of rice in the oil. Once you start to hear the sizzle go ahead and add the rest of the rice. Use a heat proof spatula, stir the rice until it takes on a slightly golden color. It will appear/feel crunchy.

Reduce the heat slightly, at this point add in the tomato/onion mix. Stir to combine the mix with the rice. Stirring pretty much constantly, continue until nearly all the moisture has evaporated. 

Add in 4 cups (no more or less) of chicken broth. Stir well to mix and break up any clumps of rice. Toss in 1-2 whole chiles (I use Fresno peppers rather than make the rice spicy, the capsicum from the chile accentuates the other flavors, similar to the chemical reaction salt has on food.)

Cover the rice and reduce the heat to a medium low temperature. Allow it to simmer gently without stirring or removing the lid. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Check the rice after 15 minutes by keeping the cover on and gently tipping the pan away from you. If there appears to be a lot of liquid remaining, allow the rice to remain on the heat. Once the liquid has evaporated, move the pan off the heat and keep covered. Keeping the lid on allows the rice to continue steaming without burning. Allow it to sit for an additional ten minutes (this is the hardest part!), then using a fork, toss the entire contents of the pot to fluff and evenly distribute any moisture left on the top layer. Congratulations on making some great Spanish Rice! Enjoy!

P.S Thanks for waiting so long Lizzy. Sorry it took me so long!