AboutBilly Mo Expertise all kinds of ethnic cooking. I have traveled to many countries and have learned to cook many different kinds of food. If you need a recipe most likely I have it...
Experience I taught myself Spanish and I've travelled all over Central America learning local dishes and recipes.
Question QUESTION: We tried the following Sofrito Rice recipe, but we feel it failed because it needed almost an extra hour of cooking. Can you figure out why it needed a total of almost 2 hours cooking time? (and even then the rice was barely done) Thanks.
Ingredients:
Brown rice, about 2 cups
Veggie broth (or cube of veggie bouillion)
1 tsp achiote seeds (annato seeds)
optionals:
1/2 cup garbanzo or black beans
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup raisins
For the sofrito: (only 1 cup of this will be used
for the recipe; store the rest after cooking it.)
2 onions (chopped)
2 heads garlic (chopped)
1 chopped tomato,
red bell pepper (chopped)
Cubanelle peppers
little dulce peppers
(or use alliepo pepper instead of the above 2 peppers)
If using dry peppers, just use 2 and cut them up before sauteing them.
cumin
cilantro
1/2 cup pitted salad olives
2 TBS capers
bay leaf
SOFRITO DIRECTIONS:
First soak the rice, about an hour.
Saute aciote seeds in about 1 cups olive oil in metal pan to see color -medium heat - when it bubbles lightly, turn down to low. Strain into enamel rice pot. Add 1 cup sofrito. Saute on low/medium about 10-15 mins. Add salad olives, capers, cumin, optionals, bay leaf, salt.
RICE COOKING
Add broth (and/or water) approx twice as much liquid as rice. 1 cup rice to 2 1/4 cups liquid if there was no soaking, less liquid if there was.
Bring to boil, simmer 45 mins (covered), turn off and let rest covered 10 mins. Fluff and serve.
ANSWER: Hi David,
It seems odd that it took so long.. Sometimes it just depends on the rice grain. Many people have trouble cooking brown rice and having it turn out decently, since it can be more temperamental than white rice. There are also many different ways to prepare it.
Here’s the most efficient way I found to cook brown rice on a stove. It takes about 35 minutes from when you start to when you’re eating (which is pretty good for brown rice). This method works for both short grain and long grain brown rice. I prefer long grain. I’ve eaten hundreds of batches of brown rice using this method over the past 10 years.
Here are the instructions:
Put brown rice and water together in a pot with a lid. Use the ratio of 1.5 cups water to 1 cup rice. I normally make 3c rice with 4.5c water for a single batch.
Set the heat to maximum, and bring the rice/water to a boil uncovered. Then put the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat to low/simmer. If your lid has a steam valve, keep it closed. Let the rice simmer for 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat, and let the rice sit in the covered pot for another 10 minutes. It’s OK if you let the rice sit longer than 10 minutes (20 or 30 minutes is fine too), but don’t let it go any less. I prefer my rice to be slightly chewy, not mushy, so I usually remove the lid after 10 minutes.
Eat and enjoy. Be careful when you remove the lid, since a lot of steam may escape when you do.
Your recipe looks very good. I'd try it again with the above method and see if it improves. Here's another recipe for you to try too..
5 servings (serving size: about 2 cups)
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups (1-inch) chopped green bell pepper
1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups uncooked quick-cooking brown rice
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed, or ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups chopped tomato
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in rice and next 4 ingredients (through thyme); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir in tomato, green peas, olives, 2 tablespoons parsley, black pepper, and artichoke hearts. Cook 3 minutes or until rice is tender and mixture is thoroughly heated. Garnish with additional chopped fresh parsley, if desired.
Good Luck! Bill
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks for the extra recipe. However, as for my recipe, my question was not how to cook brown rice alone, because we know that it takes 15-20 minutes longer than white rice. The question was how to cook the brown rice within the sofrito recipe, which coats the rice with oil before water or stock is added.
Answer In my experience brown rice will not properly absorb enough water after it has been exposed to oil. The exposure to oil before water blocks the water absorption. Thats why I either use quick cooking (precooked) rice, or cook the rice separately then mix it in with the remaining ingredients. One last alternative is to boil the rice longer..20 - 23 minutes.
