Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Brown Rice Tips....Perfect Brown Rice

Brown rice takes about 2x the cooking time as white rice.  That being said, I recommend making an entire five cup bag all at once and freezing into dinner size portions.   As always, label and date anything you put into the freezer.  Always use the FIFO method, first in, first out.  You can make some very quick dinners or side dishes out of thawed brown rice.  Try Vegetable Fried Brown Rice or add to soups, burritos, casseroles, meat loaf, and enchiladas, just to name a few.   See Quick Spanish Rice below for an excellent side to serve with tacos or to put into burritos.

*Quick tip*I cut back on the liquid when I make an entire bag of rice.  Whenever I add all of the liquid the recipe requires, I get mushy rice.  When I make a 5 cup bag of brown rice, I cut back the liquid by 1 cup.  Since the ratio is 2-1 water to rice, that would mean 9 cups total.  I do not completely cover the simmering rice, I leave the lid slightly ajar to allow moisture to escape while cooking. 

5 cups long grain brown rice
9 cups water
1 tablespoon kosher salt

1)  Add water and salt to pan over medium high heat and cover.  Once water is boiling, add rice.  Reduce heat to medium and cover with lid slightly ajar.  Cook for 35 minutes.  Cover completely, turn off the heat and allow to sit for an additional 5 minutes.  Uncover and use or begin the cooling process to store in freezer.
2)  Cool completely.  Rice is incredibly dense, so divide it up into several containers to allow the heat to escape.  Stir often while cooling.  Place in dated and labeled zip bags.  Remove as much air as possible and close bags.  Place in freezer apart from each other for the quickest freeze.  Makes 10 cups.

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