There is an art to cooking rice on the stovetop. Since I am beholden to my rice cooker, I rarely practice it. After all, if you haven’t already guessed, I’m a little impatient, and rather easily distracted. These qualities often add up to a rice disaster, typically in the form of rice that (1) boils over and/or (2) scorches on the bottom of the pot.
But my rice cooker is small, so when I need to cook brown rice in quantity (it requires lots of water), I need an alternate cooking method. Which is why I was overjoyed to discover this recipe for brown rice that is baked in the oven. I tried this recipe last weekend, and I am a convert. It took me less than 10 minutes to preheat the oven, boil the water, measure rice into my casserole and set the rice to cooking. I skipped the butter when I made my rice, and the result was so very fluffy!
This recipe will be great when you need to focus your attention on other parts of your meal. I’m also a fan because I have four servings of healthy brown rice sitting in my fridge for later use. Talk about convenient! The recipe isn’t particularly fussy, either — I didn’t have a 9″ square pan, so I used a 10″ round glass casserole instead. I should note that the rice still takes 1 hour to cook — but if you can turn your attention to other tasks in the interim, is that so bad?
I’ll definitely use this technique again. Maybe next time I’ll sub in some beluga lentils… or cook the rice in broth instead of water… or add some cumin seeds for flavor…. The possibilities are endless!
Clacked by Molly B.
on Feb 17, 2009 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
