... this article is written by a guest, a great chef and a founder of Frittata House http://frittatahouse-elena.blogspot.com/
check her blog out when you get a chance
Whenever I smell curry , cardamom, or saffron, I feel as if someone has cloaked me in an incredibly luxurious velvet blanket, the world stops revolving, and everything moves a bit slower, softer, and with more peace. This is mainly the reason of why I love to cook with Middle Eastern spices, I want the world to slow down, and I want to feel at peace.
Recently, I came across a recipe in Bon Appetite for Persian Jeweled Rice. The recipe was similar to Pilaf or what we Ukrainians call “plov”, but it has all of these amazing spices in it. I was curious as to how orange zest, saffron, cranberries, and pistachios would go together, so I decided to have a Monday adventure in the kitchen.
My fiancé sat in the living room as I cooked, and as soon as those spices hit the pan, he was snooping around my left shoulder, “What’s cooking? Smells good!”. You know you’re doing a good job in the kitchen when the man of the house gets off the couch and turns off the TV.
I am truly my mother’s daughter, and I learned to cook from many observations of my mother, meaning that I didn’t follow the recipe in the magazine, but rather took it as inspiration.
After the rice was finished, and the apartment smelled like an exotic island to the point where I could almost hear the sitars in the background, we slowly enjoyed what I truly believe to be one of the richest dishes we’ve had, and true to its name:
Jeweled Rice
Ingredients:
½ large sweet onion
2 large carrots
1 stick of butter
2 teaspoons of cardamom
2 teaspoons of coriander
3 teaspoons of curry
A pinch of saffron threads
1 teaspoon of allspice
1 teaspoon of powdered ginger
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup of dried cranberries
Orange peel of one orange
½ cup pistachios
½ cup of almonds
Basmati rice
Fresh Dill (optional)
Fresh Parsley (optional)
1. Chop your pistachios and almonds and lightly toast in a frying pan. No oils necessary. About 5-8 minutes on medium heat.
2. Cook rice according to directions.
3. While rice cooks. Combine orange zest and cranberries in a bowl with boiling water. Let this sit aside.
4. Shred your carrots and finely chop the onion.
5. You can use the pan you in which you toasted the nuts to sauté the onions and carrots. Add a tablespoon of butter. Add the rest of the butter to the rice at this point. Lightly stir, cover, and continue to cook rice.
6. After you have added the onions and carrots to sauté, add all of the spices, and enough salt and pepper to your liking. Let this sauté for 5-8 minutes.
7. Once the onions and carrots are done, add them to the rice. Add the nuts, and add just the orange zest and cranberries. Fluff lightly.
8. If you like, add chopped fresh dill and parsley before serving.
9. Enjoy the trip to the Middle East in your own kitchen.
