January 30th - Chicken Rice Pilaf

January 30th – Chicken Rice Pilaf

We’ve been trying to save money so I’ve been splurging less on food and I’ve been making a concerted effort to clear out the freezer and fridge to make more space. So I was rooting around for something to make and came upon various sundry items, including a small petit sirloin steak, a lone boneless chicken thigh, and a few other odds and ends that wouldn’t really make a meal. How do I end up with this stuff? I also had no potatoes, and not in the mood for pasta. However, we still do have about 15 pounds of basmati rice so I started thinking about a pilaf. We had used the last of the homemade chicken stock for the dogs (the dogs think that the stock is actually theirs and give me dirty looks when I use it), but I did have some canned stock that we keep around just in case.
I decided to make a rice pilaf with the lone chicken thigh and hoped I could find enough other things to make it a real meal. I started by sautéing a couple of finely chopped onions in a combination of olive oil and butter. When they were translucent, I added some garlic and the cut up chicken. I didn’t have any fresh ginger so I added some dried ginger, cardamom pods, saffron, cinnamon, cloves, rose water to the pan and let the spices cook to lose their raw flavor. Next I added a cup and a half of washed basmati rice and let it cook in the oil for a few minutes before adding a handful of raisins and about three cups of stock. I brought it to a boil and then covered it and lowered it to a simmer.

While it cooked, I toasted some shelled pistachios in a small fry pan which I figured I would add and stir in at the end. I normally add nuts last in a pilaf because I want the crunch and don’t want them to get soggy. A lot of pilafs that I’ve made have been flat tasting because I always underestimate how much flavor rice absorbs. This time I made sure that I added a lot of salt and enough spices to carry through the whole dish. I plated it and added a small spoon full of yogurt on the side as a contrast. The coolness and tang of the yogurt was a good foil to spicy richness of the pilaf. The raisins and spices gave a nice sweetness and the pistachios gave just enough crunch and texture.

I had a pint of the spiced tripel with it which went surprisingly well. Maybe it’s the fact that they both have some ginger, plus the tripel has a lot of fruit notes form the hops and the yeast. Considering that this beer overwhelms most food, it was nice to find something that it really worked with.