Wild Rice Salad

I have been putting off trying Wild Rice in a while, though I’ve been wanting to. My enthusiasm was rekindled when I read about Bee & Jai’s Thai Black Rice pudding and Indira’s Wild rice with eggplant-chole. Both the recipes were simply mouth watering! Don't you agree? Till Bee pointed out I wasnt aware that black rice was different from black wild rice . Thanks for letting me know Bee.

However, lazy me never got around to try until now. Having eaten wild rice as a salad, I wanted to experiment that out first and then move on to including it in the successive courses. Though I didnt quite expect, the outcome was fulfilling. The flavor of the rice was in harmony with its nuttiness as well as the sweetness of the cranberries....not to forget those blanched pine nuts.

Ingredients

¼ Uncooked Wild rice ( Read more on Wild Rice here. )
2 ½ cups water
¼ cup dried Cranberries
¼ cup Pine nuts, blanched ( I avoided toasted as I didn’t want the crunch to interfere with the chewy nature of the wild rice. )
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice. ( I used Navel oranges for this recipe. )
1 teaspoon Olive oil
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste



Method

1. Soak wild rice for 30 mins. Cook as recommended on package ( Or) bring to boil ¼ cup wild rice in 2 ½ cups water on HIGH. Cover and simmer for 45 mins or till most of the grains split open. If you are not sure, take a teaspoon of rice and check if the grains are tender to bite.

2. Once done, remove from heat. Drain and add ½ teaspoon of olive oil into the rice. Mix well and set aside.

3. Heat ½ teaspoon of Olive oil in a skillet. Add fresh orange juice and freshly ground black pepper. Allow to simmer for 3- 4 min. Add blanched pine nuts, rice and cook covered for 3-5 min on MEDIUM.

4. Cook uncovered for 3-5 min till most of the liquid is absorbed. Add dried cranberries, toss well.
Serve warm. Its a meal by itself.

This recipe serves 2-3. About ¼ cup of uncooked wild rice is almost equivalent to 2 cups when cooked. I cannot help but agree with what Indira mentioned for every bite requires that you take time to appreciate and relish its flavor.

Bon Appétit!

Pão de queijo – Brazilian Cheese Rolls

No visit to a Brazilian Churrascaria (Steak House) is complete without trying the authentic Brazilian cheese rolls - the “ Pão de queijo” .

These melt in your mouth cheese rolls are crispy from the outside and soft-to - gooey on the inside, when served warm. Originally served as a snack with coffee or breakfast in Brazil, they are what I call a “Perfectizer” ... perfect appetizers ..more so when you throw a party and prefer not to stuff your guests with just the first course! How good can it get! Its gluten free/ wheat free and made from tapioca starch!

Be it at Fogo De Chao or Texas De Brazil or Rafain, though the highlight always remains the various cuts of meats served by Gauchos, ranging from – Picanha ( Rump Cover), Pork, Chicken, Fraldinha (Bottom Sirloin), Filet Mignon, Lamb & Brazilian Sausage- these cheese rolls have eternally held a special place in my list of “Favorite chow” . My love for them just seems to be increasing with every visit.

So after a recent visit I decided to google for recipes and found a plethora of them. Not sure which one would give me the authentic taste, I decided to ask a couple of friends from Brazil. Surprisingly one of them was not only kind to share her mother’s recipe, but also make a whole lot of them for me!

We had a bunch of friends over one Friday evening, and I thought what best than try out my friend's mom’s recipe. So I planned this to be paired with aged Merlot so that mildness of the cheese in the roll is balanced by smoothness of Merlot.

And Lo!! Before I even realized, I was turning out batches of these little rolls - more than I had ever imagined. Honestly, I had my own apprehensions as to how it would turn out, I certainly didn’t want a disaster in my kitchen minutes before my guests arrived! So I did have back up plans of store bought munchies...you know just in case.

But, thanks to my friend and her mom, I was sitting that Friday evening as an extremely happy hostess sharing the recipe with my guests – contended with the fact that I had done justice to my Pão de queijos! So folks here I present to you my “perfectizer” of the week...

Ingredients & Method

1 cup of water

1 cup of milk ( 2% reduced fat)

½ cup oil ( canola oil)

1 teaspoon of salt ( iodized)

1lb of tapioca starch

2-3 eggs ( large)

7 oz of grated parmesan cheese

Boil in a wok the following: water, milk, oil and salt. Remove the wok from heat and sift in the Tapioca starch. Add grated cheese into the above mixture and knead well. Allow to cool to room temperature. Add eggs , one at a time, into the mixture and mix well using a wooden spoon. Knead the mixture into a smooth textured dough. Allow the dough sit for 30-45 minutes at room temperature. Shape spoonful of the dough into small balls ( lemon sized) by rolling with hands. Preheat oven to 350F. Place the balls of dough atleast ¼ inch apart on parchment paper or greased baking sheet. The cheese rolls will become twice their original size when done. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Stick in a toothpick/ fruit fork into some the rolls, if it comes out clear the rolls are done. Allow time to cool. Serve warm.

Some Tips:
If using medium sized eggs, then you may want to use 4-5of them. Mixing /kneading by hand gives a far smoother texture to these rolls. Grease your hands/ table spoon with oil before making the balls to prevent sticking. Place the balls well apart from one another to prevent sticking to each other when done. Enjoy with your favorite wine. Add some finely chopped jalapeno to add some spice- if you prefer.

Chow!!