Creamy Carolina Gold Rice Recipes

CREAMY BAKED MARIGOLD RICE

Steps:

• This oven-baked dish of creamy marigold rice infused with vibrant flowers makes for a tasty and creative way to honor and remember all of your loved ones for Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. This recipe, created by Vianney Rodriguez at Sweet Life Bake uses Carolina® White Rice along with dried marigolds for the perfect addition to your meal celebration. Step 1
• For rice: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a heavy, 2-quart saucepan. Stir in 1 cup rice. Cover reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Step 2
• To a pan over medium-high heat, add butter. Sauté onion until light and translucent, about 3 minutes, Season with salt and pepper. Stir in dried marigolds and heavy cream. Cook over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring. Step 3
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Liberally spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Stir together the rice and marigold cream sauce. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, drizzle with fresh lime juice and serve warm. Recipe Suggestion For easier prep, cook rice on the stove or in a rice cooker before baking.

RACHEL'S CREAMY RICE PUDDING

Steps:

• Place milk, rice, and sugar in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Beat eggs in a bowl. Add a small amount of the rice mixture to the eggs to temper them. Pour mixture into the pot; add raisins and vanilla extract. Let cook until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes more. Add more milk if pudding gets too thick. Pour into a serving bowl and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

CHIPOTLE CHICKEN & RICE

Steps:

• Step 1 Season chicken with chili powder and salt. Step 2 In large Dutch oven or saucepan set over medium heat, heat 2 tbsp oil. In batches to avoid crowding, add chicken and cook, turning, for 5 to 7 minutes or until starting to brown all over, adding more oil as needed. Using slotted spoon, transfer to plate as chicken is browned. Step 3 Add onion and garlic to oil in Dutch oven set over medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until starting to soften. Stir in rice, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until well coated. Step 4 Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Stir in lime juice. Return chicken to Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Step 5 Before serving, fluff rice mixture with fork and garnish with cilantro. Recipe Tips: Add 1 cup frozen vegetable medley - such as peas, corn and carrots - in the last 10 minutes of cooking if desired. For a zesty addition, add 1/2 cup sliced green olives or 1/4 cup drained capers with the lime juice in Step 4.

CAROLINA GOLD RICE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sizzling hot (see Know-how, page 100). Add the shallot and cook and stir for about 2 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the rice, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir to coat with oil and butter. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the thyme and just enough broth to cover the rice by about 1/4 inch, stirring just once to combine.
• Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.
• Often called the grandfather of long-grain rice in the Americas, Carolina Gold is a beautiful variety that was the star of the antebellum rice trade and a driving force in the creation of a distinct Southern culinary tradition. Despite these claims to fame, Carolina Gold fell by the wayside after the Civil War, along with the South's rice economy. It was half forgotten and nearly extinct by the time Richard Schulz, a Georgia surgeon and plantation owner, rehabilitated the grain in the 1980s. Thanks to his efforts, it is now once again commercially available from vendors like South Carolina's Carolina Plantation Rice and Anson Mills (see Sources, page 377).

CHARLESTON RED RICE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• In a large (12-inch) heavy skillet over medium heat, fry the bacon until crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the bacon to paper towels to drain, leaving behind drippings. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
• In the same skillet, add the chopped onion, celery, bell pepper and 1 teaspoon salt, and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, another 30 seconds.
• To the skillet, add the rinsed rice. Stir and toast the rice for 30 seconds. Add the crumbled bacon, tomato purée, stock, hot sauce, Cajun seasoning, sugar, pepper and cayenne.
• Bring the rice and vegetables to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and add salt, if needed.
• Carefully transfer ingredients to the greased baking dish. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil, and bake until the rice is tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Check the rice after about 30 minutes to make sure all the liquid is absorbed, and the rice is tender. (If it's too dry or not cooked all the way through, add a few tablespoons of water or stock at a time, if necessary, and cook a little longer.) Fluff with a fork before serving and garnish with parsley leaves.