Rice & Grains
2019 recipes found
Savory Babka With Ricotta and Herbs
This cheese-filled bread has the same soft, rich dough of a traditional babka, but instead of being filled with cinnamon or chocolate, it has an herb-speckled, garlic-scented ricotta swirled throughout. Some optional chopped ham or olives give the bread an even saltier tang, but you can leave it out for something milder. Leftover babka makes excellent toast or — if you want to take it to another level of gooeyness — grilled cheese sandwiches.
Turmeric Rice With Tomatoes
There are a few foolproof ways of cooking perfect, fluffy long-grain rice, and this is one of them. The pot is covered with a lid and a tea towel for a short time, then set aside to let the rice finish cooking in the steam that has built up. The finished dish is deliciously rich and lemony and would go perfectly with some grilled fish or chicken. The bright yellow of the turmeric and the red pop of the cherry tomatoes mean that it’s also a treat for the eyes.
Cranberry-Wild Rice Stuffing
Bread stuffing is classic for Thanksgiving, but it isn’t the only choice. In this recipe by the cookbook author Nancy Harmon Jenkins, wild rice takes on the starchy role, while sausage and cranberries lend richness and tang. You can mix the elements together one day ahead, then bake just before serving.
Spicy Lemon-Ginger Bread Stuffing
Baked Rice
This recipe, from the chef Yotam Ottolenghi, is richly spiced and flavorful, a dish that would pair with almost any grilled or roasted meat. Try it sometime with a Sunday roast chicken and a pile of greens, a comforting spread as the weekend slides away.
Creamed Rice With English Peas and Country Ham
Steven Satterfield, the chef at Miller Union in Atlanta, published a version of this recipe for a kind of Lowcountry risotto in his cookbook, "Root to Leaf." He uses Carolina Gold rice, a heritage long-grain variety, but any good long-grain rice will do. Likewise, feel free to substitute other hams for the country ham called for in the recipe. But use the very best peas you can find or, failing that, asparagus tips or tiny radishes. Not rich enough for you? Add a poached egg.
Sicilian Involtini With Ham and Cheese
In Sicily, where I learned to make these savory bundles, cooks make them at home, or buy them in butcher shops, ready for the oven. Fillings vary, but this one with prosciutto cotto and cheese is a favorite. The rolls are threaded on skewers with bay leaves and bread slices, showered with bread crumbs and olive oil, then baked.
Brisket Barley Soup with Crispy Kale
Making soup out of brisket has a major advantage over the usual braising: Because you are cooking the meat submerged in broth, it stays juicy. As it simmers, the brisket cubes soften enough so you can cut them with your spoon. The chewiest thing in the soup will be the barley, but in a good way. Some slabs of brisket comes more thoroughly trimmed than others, so you may have to do some knife work when you get it home. But fear not, if your broth ends up a little greasy, just chill it and then spoon the fat off the top when it’s cold.
Cholent Brisket
Rice Cakes
Crispy rice has a revered place in many cultures. These rice cakes, which work well as a side dish to a piece of grilled meat or fish, offer the delicious crunch of Korean nurunji or Middle eastern hkaka, with some of the herbed cheesy goodness of Italian arancini. The basic recipe can be used to accommodate vegetables other than zucchini and herbs other than mint, or can be made without either for a more simple backdrop for a fried egg or a simple snack for a child.
Sweet and Sour Fish
Gemma Lin, a chef and co-owner of the restaurant Bad Mama Keelung, in Taiwan, was taught from a very early age that a proper meal should always contain some form of seafood. For special occasions, her mother liked to pan-fry a whole sea bass and then blanket it with a sour, savory sauce. This recipe is Ms. Lin’s spin on that family classic. Here, a whole sea bass or other white-fleshed fish is marinated with rice wine, then rubbed with sweet potato starch and shallow-fried. It’s topped with a hearty portion of fresh vegetables and a delectable sweet-and-sour dressing made with tomato paste, mirin, vinegar and a gentle splash of soy sauce.
Pancit Palabok (Rice Noodles With Chicken Ragout and Shrimp)
We eat pancit, or noodles, always — but especially at birthday celebrations, where the length of the noodles is seen as a promise for an equally long life. Among our many pancit dishes, palabok is the richest. The sauce almost takes on the texture of an Italian ragù, with the meat slowly disintegrating into a thick gravy that’s stained reddish-gold by achuete (annatto). The toppings aren’t decorative, but a crucial part of the dish: a whole regiment of hard-boiled eggs and poached shrimp, plus a tumble of fried garlic and crumbled chicharron (puffed-up crispy pork skins).
Brown Rice, Sesame, Spinach and Scallion Pancakes
With only one test of these hearty pancakes, they’ve turned into a favorite lunch, snack and dinner in our house. Try them heated with a little grated cheese on top, or serve with yogurt. These look prettiest when you use black sesame seeds.
Rice With Roasted Peppers And Beans
Grilled Polenta With Spicy Tomato Sauce and Fried Eggs
Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Fried Sushi Cakes
Jean-Georges Vongerichten's recipe here, for fried cakes of sushi-style rice topped with chipotle mayonnaise and raw scallop, then painted with a thin glaze of a soy-honey mixture, is just irresistible. (If I were an award committee, I’d give it “best of the year.”)
Cassoulet
This slow-cooked casserole of white beans and several kinds of meat has long been considered the pinnacle of regional French home cooking. It takes planning (you’ll need to find all the ingredients), time and a good deal of culinary stamina. But the voluptuous mix of aromatic beans surrounding rich chunks of duck confit, sausages, roasted pork and lamb and a crisp salt pork crust is well worth the effort. Serve this with a green salad. It doesn’t need any other accompaniment, and you wouldn’t have room for it, anyway. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
Smashed Potatoes With Thai-Style Chile and Herb Sauce
This recipe is inspired by suea rong hai, or “crying tiger,” a Thai dish of grilled beef served with a fiery sauce of crushed Thai chile, fish sauce, lime juice, toasted rice powder and cilantro. Here, the bright and punchy sauce is the perfect foil to crispy roasted potatoes, but it would be just as welcome spooned over fried brussels sprouts, sautéed shrimp or grilled steak. Finally, while the sauce in this recipe is equal parts acidic and spicy, feel free to add more chile — including the seeds and ribs — to take the heat up a notch.
Grilled Steak and Vegetables With Tortillas
Here's an idea: Spend the same $30, or $50 or $100 or $300 on meat that you now spend each week or month, but buy less and buy better. You might compare this to an annual purchase of 20 $5 T-shirts made by child labor versus one of five $20 T-shirts made by better-paid and better-treated workers from organic cotton. Expensive meat from real farms is a more extreme example of this less-is-better policy. Then cook the meat differently than you used to. Take this vague interpretation of fajitas, one that focuses on grilled vegetables and makes beef a supporting player. A pound or so of tender, fatty rib-eye or sirloin goes a long way with this recipe. And it makes a lovely impression if you present it whole before slicing or chopping. You can cook everything in a cast-iron skillet (you will most likely need more than one, or you will have to cook in batches) instead of on a grill.
Rice With Poached Eggs
One-Pot Turkey Chili and Biscuits
In this streamlined recipe, turkey chili and buttery cornmeal biscuits are nestled together in the same skillet, and baked into a blissfully cozy one-pot meal. You can make the cornmeal batter and the chili several hours ahead — or even the night before — then bake them together right before serving, so the biscuits are at their most tender. A dollop of sour cream at the end isn’t strictly necessary, but the cool milkiness is lovely with the spicy, meaty chili. Yogurt makes a fine substitute. And if you’re looking to make this vegetarian, substitute faux meat or another can of beans for the turkey.
Green Mashed Potatoes
These addictive mashed potatoes are equal parts potatoes and greens, lending texture and fresh flavor to the classic side dish. The amount of oil here is significant, but we all know that what makes mashed potatoes really good is fat. Use the best olive oil you have. (For everything you need to know to make perfect potatoes, visit our potato guide.)
Polenta and Sausages for a Crowd (Polenta Alla Spianatora)
Picture a golden circle of polenta, spread on a large board or platter, and topped with a rich tomato-y sausage-laden ragù. It’s a traditional, somewhat theatrical way to eat polenta in Northern Italy, and it makes quite an impression when it’s brought to the table. Known as polenta sul tavola or polenta alla spianatora, it is usually served with forks but no plates, with guests gathered around the table for a very casual family-style meal. You can make it when there’s nothing in the house to eat except cornmeal and canned tomatoes, plus an onion or two.
Shrimp With Hot Fennel Sausage and Polenta
Shrimp with hominy grits is a favorite in the American South. Polenta stands in for this spicy Italianate version, fortified with hot fennel sausage and tomatoes. For the best-tasting results, be sure to cook the polenta slowly for at least 45 minutes, and try to get freshly made sausages from an Italian deli or butcher shop.