![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acelightning in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomI really only have one recipe that's unusual, but it's always a big hit.
This came about when all my relatives were still alive, and having holiday dinners at my house. One wanted chopped apples in the stuffing, another wanted chestnuts and sausage meat, another wanted cornbread stuffing... and I never liked bread stuffing very much in the first place. So I invented something different.
World-Famous Three-Rice Stuffing with Sherry and Walnuts
(Makes more than enough for a 10-pound turkey; adjust the quantities as needed.)
6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup brown rice
1 cup wild rice
1 cup Wehani rice (see Note)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 4 tablespoons) butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 to 4 ribs of celery, washed and chopped
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (from a bag)
1 to 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper ("to taste")
1/2 cup Harvey's Bristol Cream sherry
Bring the water and optional salt to a boil in a large pot with a lid. Add the brown rice and wild rice; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the Wehani rice, replace cover, and simmer another 30 minutes. (While it's cooking, chop the onion and celery.) Turn off heat, but leave the lid on the rice.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, pepper, and walnuts. Cook and stir until it's all gently browned. Add the cooked rice (pouring off any excess liquid - save it for making gravy), and stir until everything is well combined. Add the sherry, and cook and stir until most of the alcohol has evaporated. You can refrigerate the mixture (up to a week) in an airtight container at this point, or stuff the bird immediately.
Stuff the bird, packing the rice mixture in vigorously (it doesn't expand like bread stuffing). Roast as usual, making sure all parts are thoroughly cooked. Serve hot, and pass the gravy. (Leftover stuffing may be refrigerated and reheated in the next few days.)
If you are cooking only a breast, or wish to cook the bird un-stuffed, put the rice mixture in a covered casserole dish and bake it for the last hour or so that the bird is roasting. Baste the stuffing with some of the pan drippings when you baste the bird. Or don't bother baking it at all; put it in a serving bowl once it's made, and nobody will ever know the difference.
(Optional: Add some chopped mushrooms. If they're fresh, sautee them in the butter along with the onion, celery, and walnuts. If they're canned, just mix them in when you add the sherry.)
NOTE: Wehani rice is grown by Lundberg Farms, and is available in health food stores, Whole Foods, and the "gourmet" departments of many supermarkets. It is russet-colored and has a fragrance like popcorn when it cooks. The combination of the beige brown rice, the charcoal-grey wild rice, and the russet Wehani makes a very pretty-looking mixture. If you cannot find Wehani rice, substitute your favorite "fragrant" rice, such as basmati, jasmine, Texmati, or Konriko's "Wild Pecan" rice, but the visual effect will not be as pretty.
This came about when all my relatives were still alive, and having holiday dinners at my house. One wanted chopped apples in the stuffing, another wanted chestnuts and sausage meat, another wanted cornbread stuffing... and I never liked bread stuffing very much in the first place. So I invented something different.
World-Famous Three-Rice Stuffing with Sherry and Walnuts
(Makes more than enough for a 10-pound turkey; adjust the quantities as needed.)
6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup brown rice
1 cup wild rice
1 cup Wehani rice (see Note)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 4 tablespoons) butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 to 4 ribs of celery, washed and chopped
1 cup finely chopped walnuts (from a bag)
1 to 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper ("to taste")
1/2 cup Harvey's Bristol Cream sherry
Bring the water and optional salt to a boil in a large pot with a lid. Add the brown rice and wild rice; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the Wehani rice, replace cover, and simmer another 30 minutes. (While it's cooking, chop the onion and celery.) Turn off heat, but leave the lid on the rice.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, pepper, and walnuts. Cook and stir until it's all gently browned. Add the cooked rice (pouring off any excess liquid - save it for making gravy), and stir until everything is well combined. Add the sherry, and cook and stir until most of the alcohol has evaporated. You can refrigerate the mixture (up to a week) in an airtight container at this point, or stuff the bird immediately.
Stuff the bird, packing the rice mixture in vigorously (it doesn't expand like bread stuffing). Roast as usual, making sure all parts are thoroughly cooked. Serve hot, and pass the gravy. (Leftover stuffing may be refrigerated and reheated in the next few days.)
If you are cooking only a breast, or wish to cook the bird un-stuffed, put the rice mixture in a covered casserole dish and bake it for the last hour or so that the bird is roasting. Baste the stuffing with some of the pan drippings when you baste the bird. Or don't bother baking it at all; put it in a serving bowl once it's made, and nobody will ever know the difference.
(Optional: Add some chopped mushrooms. If they're fresh, sautee them in the butter along with the onion, celery, and walnuts. If they're canned, just mix them in when you add the sherry.)
NOTE: Wehani rice is grown by Lundberg Farms, and is available in health food stores, Whole Foods, and the "gourmet" departments of many supermarkets. It is russet-colored and has a fragrance like popcorn when it cooks. The combination of the beige brown rice, the charcoal-grey wild rice, and the russet Wehani makes a very pretty-looking mixture. If you cannot find Wehani rice, substitute your favorite "fragrant" rice, such as basmati, jasmine, Texmati, or Konriko's "Wild Pecan" rice, but the visual effect will not be as pretty.
