Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A nice, better butter rice


I've been noticing recently how many people/bloggers are making up their own recipes. I think this is incredibly clever, since I'm the type of home cook who has to follow a recipe to the letter - for a several times at least - before I even think of tweaking it slightly. Most substitutions I make are if I don't have an ingredient on hand or when leaving it out won't really make a difference.

Most of the recipes I post here are photogenic if nothing else. And most of them have been tried more than once before appearing. There's no reasoning behind this, except that the first attempt is usually too pathetic to write about or even photograph!

But here's an exception - this Butter Rice turned out perfectly the first time. It's similar to this easy Kedgeree recipe in that you cook the rice in some stock and let it stand for a bit before eating. This makes the rice more tender because it 'cooks' a bit longer off the heat. I'm hoping this winning dish will be the start of a wonderful run of luck in the kitchen for me *fingers crossed*

Butter rice
Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients
20g butter
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 cup jasmine rice, rinsed
2 dried bay leaves
2 cups chicken stock
¼ cup frozen peas
2 tblsp fried shallots

Method
1. Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
2. Add rice, bay leaves and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
3. Gently stir through the peas and remove from the heat. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
4. Remove bay leaves and serve the rice in bowls, sprinkled with fried shallots.

Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas


Ingredients, including rice, bay leaves, lots of butter, chicken stock, garlic, ginger and fried shallots/onions.


This rice turned out surprisingly fluffy considering it's made in a saucepan rather than a rice cooker.
It's also incredibly tasty (that's all the butter in it), and would make a good side dish in a banquet.


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And for the cat that has everything - except a decent food bowl because her owner broke her previous one last year and hasn't been able to find a nice one until now:
It's also a consolation prize for having to put up with evil Henry.
This adorable bowl is from Ruche, where you can pick up vintage-y dresses and handbags as well as pet accessories. Sweet!

9 comments:

  1. hehe love the cat bowl. glad it wasn't used for the butter rice :-)

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  2. Everything you post is beautiful. I am glad to know that the dishes you make have been tried and tested and have the "Ooh look!" stamp of approval.

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  3. Such a nice and simple rice dish and even great to have as a side to anything you desire.

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  4. Try 'em, then sit back and enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling of being totally appreciated.

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  5. Even for those who make up their own recipes, if often takes multiple tries...trust me. This rice sounds perfect! It must have been fate that you got it right straight off the bat!

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  6. I really love your good cat ;-)) The rice must have tasted wonderful cooked in broth and with real butter and shallots.

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  7. I've never made rice outside of a rice cooker! I'll have to give it a go some time!

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  8. I'm glad Tabitha gets a consolation prize, especially since she probably doesn't like rice even if it's buttery.

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  9. I love butter in my rice, although it's probably not too good for me :P I'm one who likes to follow recipes to the letter as well, but my boyfriend loves to cook so he saves from the hassle and makes things up as he goes...

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