Easy, Wonderful Rice

I grew up hating rice. That white sticky stuff that had no flavor, and just seems to stick in my throat on the way down-- no thank you.

Then I went to culinary school. Apparently there is rice out there that has flavor. Now rice pilaf and risotto are two of my favorite meals. My rice pilaf is a mexican rice, but can be easily altered to work for any kind of meal.

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain white rice (the normal stuff)
2 cups water
1/2 onion, diced
1 chipotle in adobo, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T red chile powder
1 t cumin
salt & pepper

In a pot saute onion in a little oil on medium heat. Once it is soft add the chipotle and garlic. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Add spices and mix again. Add the water and wait for it to come to a boil. Once it boils put on the lid and turn the heat down to something low. On my stove that is three, but it could be different on yours, you'll just have to test some batches until it comes out just right. Leave it for 20 MINUTES. DO NOT LIFT THE LID. After that time turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 more minutes. This is a test of your patience, you must still not life the lid. After that time is up you can unveal your rice. It will look very compact. Take a fork and fluff it, and you should have PERFECT rice.

You can change out almost anything in the recipe. The big point is to have 2:1 liquid to rice. We sometimes do half broth/ half water, or add some mexican marinade to the liquid. I personally do not recommend doing all broth if it is store bought as it tends to have a strong flavor that gets a little unpleasant in big quantites. Sometimes we add corn, tomatoes or cooked spinach to the rice after it is cooked to give it more color. With rice, the more flavor the better, make it a vehicle for all the flavors you love. It is such a big part of every major nations cuisine because it is such a good background(and it's cheap, which isn't a bad thing either).