2005-10-01 1:17am
When at home I really enjoy experimenting with French cuisine... especially 'simple French cuisine' as I like to call it. Dishes that are very flavorful, use terrific ingredients but basically take little time or effort to prepare (all the real work is done by the ingredients in the oven). My specialty is 'Easy Provencal Chicken'... more to come on this recipe at a later date as it's being reserved for Splendid Palate's newsletter. When I made it recently I had further inspiration to create a perfect complement... lavender rice. The recipe is far from perfected, though I would encourage some experimenting as the initial results were quite nice (although a bit mild in lavender taste). Here is what I recommend starting with:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic lavender buds
1 cup basmati rice
1 TBSP butter
1 TSP olive oilfleur de sel (salt to taste)
2 cups water
In a tall 3-4 QT sauce pan combine the rice and olive oil. Mix so that the rice is coated. Turn the heat on med and briefly saute the rice. Add 2 cups of water and turn heat to med-high. Utilizing muslin herb bag(s) or an extra large tea infuser add the organic lavender buds (lavender should not be mixed in directly with the rice as they will need to be removed prior to serving). NOTE: if muslin or infusers are not available, cheese cloth that is tightly tied off will also work. Bring the rice to a boil. Stir often, being sure to stir the lavender around so that it is contact with all sections of the pot. Reduce the heat to medium, cover. Be sure to check heat and stir often. Ideally the rice should be slow cooked, so that the lavender has a chance to infuse the rice. Once the water is near reduced and rice thickened, remove the lavender. Finish cooking the rice, once complete add in the butter and mix until melted. Finally add fleur de sel to taste. NOTE: I generally like to bake the rice at the end prior to adding the butter and salt for a half hour or so in a covered dish.
The finished product may look a little grey-blue and should have very nice, subtle notes of lavender. This rice makes a wonderful accompaniment to poultry and fish. The amount of lavender needed to get the right level of taste will take a bit of trial and error. This quantity (1/2 cup) does produce a nice result. Enjoy.
P.S. If you'd like to get on the mailing list for the Splendid Palate gourmet newsletter, please email your mailing address. Yes, it's a newsprint, hard copy... not an electronic one.
|
