Brown Rice

Making the perfect pot of rice is no easy task.  In my first few attempts, it boiled over, came out gummy, and stuck to the bottom: the trifecta of bad rice.  But with some practice, and a few google searches, I came to perfect my rice.

Rice is finicky, like a set of rabbit ears on an old television.  The more you handle the rice, the worse it turns out.  With rice, delicacy is the watchword.  Like those thin metal rods, you need to place the pot of rice in the right place, and then leave it alone, trusting it to work as it should.

In practice, this means bringing the rice to a boil, stirring it once (and ever so gently), covering it, and then leaving it alone, until ready.  To prevent the rice from boiling over, I push the pot slightly off the burner (see below).  Follow those guidelines, and you’ll have a perfect pot of rice.

Brown Rice

PREP TIME: No prep time
COOK TIME: 60 minutes
YIELD: 6 cups

WHAT TO GRAB:
4 cups water
2 cups long-grain brown rice
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter

HOW YOU DO IT:

1.  In a medium saucepan bring the water to a boil.  Add the rice, salt, and butter, and gently stir one time.  Cover the saucepan, and reduce the heat to low heat.  Simmer for 50 minutes, without stirring.  I like to  keep the saucepan on the edge of the burner to prevent the pan  from boiling over.

2.  After 50 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat, and allow it to rest for 10 minutes, covered. Remove the cover, fluff with a fork, and use it to make red beans and rice!