Pilaf originated in Turkey but almost every culture today has a version of this rice based dish that’s cooked in stock along with other fresh ingredients. It’s the other fresh ingredients that define the regional variations. This recipe is for a basic version from which you can add your own flare to make it yours.
Ingredients
- 16 oz Chicken stock – you can use broth but why
- 1 cup Rice – long grain Carolina if you can find it
- 3 TBL Onion – finely diced
- 1 Garlic clove – smashed and minced
- 1 TBL Butter
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 Thyme sprig or 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 0.25 tsp Black pepper
Process
- Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- At the same time,
- Heat sauce pan on Med and bring stock to a boil.
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
- Melt butter over Med heat in medium oven-ready sauce pan.
- Add onions and salt to melted butter and saute until translucent (~5 mins).
- Add garlic and rice stir constantly until rice is toasted (starts to crackle).
- Add hot stock, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a boil.
- Cover and put in oven until rice is tender and liquid absorbed ~20 mins.
- Remove from heat and rest 10 mins.
- Remove lid and cover pot with clean dish towel. Replace lid and rest 5 mins.
- Remove thyme sprig while lightly fluffing the rice
Note: You can add chopped parsley or cilantro after step 9 if you want, or you can garnish with them on the serving plate.
