Rice

Saffron and Modern Spice Cookbook Giveaway

November 23, 2009

Lora has great confidence in me. She was so pleased with the Matar Paneer recipe she asked what I can do with saffron rice. Buoyed by her enthusiasm, I headed to the Indian specialty shop and searched for saffron. There was none on the shelves. When I inquired if they had any, the clerk rummaged [...]

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Italian Week — Butternut Risotto

September 17, 2008

Italian cuisine can be full of surprises. Despite calling for two whole tablespoons of minced garlic, this dish is sweet and unexpectedly subtle. Too subtle for some. Like my father, who diplomatically suggested I shouldn’t bother making it again but was open to lemon pie. Or my husband who wanted me to toss in some [...]

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Lemon Risotto – To Grate or Microplane, That is the Question

March 5, 2008

What started out as Gadget Week is morphing into an experiment I’m dubbing Expand Charmian’s Palate. Yesterday I discovered that pears poached in black currant wine is greater than the sum of its parts. And today? I set aside my textural objections and made Lemon Risotto. Don’t get me wrong. I love lemon. It’s risotto [...]

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Perfect Basmati Rice

February 1, 2008

Sometimes the simplest things stump me. For years, rice was my nemesis. Too sticky, too wet, too mushy. The alternative? Burnt. I couldn’t even make Uncle Ben’s turn out right. As with my bitter green tea fiasco, when faced with continued failure, I simply stopped trying. Many of you are wondering why I didn’t just [...]

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