South Carolina Brown Rice Recipes

SPANISH BROWN RICE

Steps:

• Combine rice and garlic in a saucepan. Stir in water, salsa, and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil.
• Stir rice mixture and reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 50 minutes. Turn off heat and allow rice to sit, covered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Stir rice before serving.

BROWN RICE...THE FAST WAY!

Steps:

• Using a strainer, rinse the rice under cold water, then drain it completely. (Here's why.)
• In a saucepan over high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add the rice and stir. Continue to boil uncovered until tender, with the water bubbling rapidly, for 20 minutes. Start tasting at 18 to 20 minutes: if the rice is tender, remove the heat. If not, keep cooking 5 to 10 minutes more until the rice is tender. (All rice types and brands are slightly different, so you'll have to adjust according to the specific rice. Ours is usually done in around 18 to 25 minutes.)
• Pour the rice into a strainer, then return it to the pot. Cover the pot and allow the rice to steam for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff the rice with a fork. Stir in the salt.

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.

BROWN RICE

Steps:

• To cook brown rice quickly, soak it in the water for 2 hours or longer in advance. It can be put to soak the night before or in the morning.
• Bring the rice and the soaking water, with salt and pepper to taste, to a boil; reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until water has evaporated and rice is fluffy.
• If rice is not presoaked, it will take 40 to 45 minutes to cook.

GARLICKY BROWN RICE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add rice, and saute 1 minute.
• Add garlic; saute 2 minutes.
• Stir in water, broth and salt; bring to a boil.
• Cover, reduce heat, and cook over medium-low heat 55 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
• Spoon into a bowl, fluff with a fork.
• Top with green onions.

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).