Rice Pilaf

Rice pilaf

This is such an easy dish to make and it is TASTY. I could be because you saute everything in butter... humm, so you could make it a titch healthier if you cut some of the butter. heh heh. anyway- on to the main event, rice. This is a great recipe to use some of that left over rice.

Here is what you need:

1.5 cups uncooked rice
1 bell pepper
1 onion
4-5 cloves of garlic
mushrooms

Start by cooking your rice. Use a two to one ratio of water to rice, so if you have 1.5 cups of rice then use 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil for two minutes and then set on low and let it simmer for 20 minutes. In the mean time saute onion, garlic, red bell pepper, and then start on the mushrooms. By the time you are finished with the vegetables the rice will be done. If you have a wok it is probably an appropriate pan for making this dish since it will be bigger than your skillet- but i have yet to bust that bad boy out. But it does leave a mess if you stick with the smaller pan. ANYWAY- (i have a problem with rambling sometimes). Add a few more tabs of butter to the rice and then season with sage, garlic powder, chicken bullion, and pepper. And enjoy!!!

Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup bean sprouts

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup sliced mushrooms (3 oz)

3 cups cold cooked rice

1 cup cut-up cooked pork

2 medium green onions sliced (2 tablespoons)

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

3 tablespoons soy sauce (*We found 3 tablespoons to be WAY too much.  My sister made it with 1 1/2 tablespoons and said it was perfect.)

Dash of white pepper

1. Rinse bean sprouts with cold water; drain.  2.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat; rotate skillet until oil covers bottom.  Cook mushrooms in oil about 1 minute, stirring frequently, until coated.  3.  Add bean sprouts, rice, pork and onions.  Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes, stirring and breaking up rice until hot.  4. Move rice mixture to side of skillet.  Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to other side of skillet.  Cook eggs in oil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until eggs are thickened throughout but still moist.  Stir eggs into rice mixture.  Stir in soy sauce and white pepper.

*The recipe says to use cold rice, even day old rice, because it prevents it from getting mushy.  We didn't have day old rice, so we made some in the microwave and then stuck it in the fridge until it had cooled down a little.  That worked just fine.