Quick tips for pasta and rice

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

Never add oil to pasta water to prevent sticking. It will not stick provided you have enough rapidly boiling water and you have stirred well at the beginning.

Dried pasta, made with durum wheat and water, is good with robust, oil-based sauces. Pasta handmade from soft flour and eggs is better with creamy or butter sauces. Same apply to gnocchi.

When adding rice to the risotto pan, do not "toast" it as advised in some recipes. That is a really "No-Go" as it damages the outside starch of the rice grain.

Never "flood" the rice when adding the stock for risotto because the rice will boil and the outer starch will not dissolve.
Stirring risotto constantly is the secret for a perfect one: the friction between the rice kernels allows the starch to melt away and make it creamy.

Ciao, Guido
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carol · DishWasher Joined: Oct 23, 2006 Posts: 18

I'm making a dish in a couple of weeks at college. A small amount of salad, a small dome of wild rice then on top a small piece of smoke salmon and to finish it off a few whole langoustines leaning around the rice.

I've never eaten wild rice so I'm not sure it will all go well together. What do you think?

Usually when the ingredient come in to th college they ahve already been taken out of the packet they were bought in so we can't cheat by readin cookin instructions. But I've never cooked wild rice before. Is it the the same method as regular short or long grained white rice? Any tips??

There will only b a small amount f rice in the centre of the plate, about the size of a boild potato.

Thanks Smile

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

Wild rice is not properly a rice, but a grain from a group of grasses of the genus Zizania that grow in shallow water in small lakes and slow-flowing streams.

The most common cooking methods of cooking wild rice are on stovetop or in the oven

On stovetop, put one cup of wild rice with 3 cups boiling salted water and let simmer for about one hour.

In the oven, combine 1 cup wild rice with 2 cups water in a covered 2-quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350 F (175°C) for 1 hour. Check wild rice every 30 minutes. Add more water, if needed, and fluff with a fork. Do not let the rice to dry. Continue baking for 1/2 hour. For better flavor, substitute water with chicken or beef stock.

Note: one cup of uncooked wild rice yelds 3 or 4 cups of cooked rice.

Good luck with your dish!
Guido
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paulamathers · Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject:

Carol - a 2 quart cassarole dish would be a dish that holds 8 (american measuring) cups of water. Tesco sell measuring cups for £2.99/£3.99. - We don't measure in quarts in England
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guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

the "quart" measuremet is something easy
4 quarts = 1 gallon = more or less 4 liters,
I also round 2Lbs = 1 Kilo
Usually it doesn't mess up a recipe too much.

I just hate when americans use cups to measure weight. Cups is a volume measure and should not be used to weight, because the weight of 1 cup of sugar is not equal the weight of 1 cup of flour.
In baking, it may bring some weird results

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paulamathers · Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 6:56 pm Post subject:

when i first started using cups to bake with my mum told me that 1 cup equates to x amount of ounces (cant remember the amount now). I made gingerbread men and they were awful! really sloppy and gross!
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Kate · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:03 am Post subject:

How did I miss this one? Carol I lightly toast my wild rice in a little butter, then add the stock and whatever else I'm using and then bake it as Guido said. Wild rice is more suited to poultry and meats but I think it would go well with langoustino. Just keep the seasonings mild and light.

Wild rice has a mild, nutty flavor, and is slightly chewey. As Guido said it is actually a grain. I usually mix it with some steamed white or brown rice .
Good luck on the exam!
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