RECIPE:
3/4 C uncooked rice (I used Basmati)
1 C water
1/3+ C white wine (I used, like, 1/3 C plus a splash)
1 C chicken broth
5-6 T honey
1-2 T butter
1 1/2 C chopped tomatoes (I used about 10-15 cherry tomatoes cut in half, but use whatever )
6 oz frozen artichoke hearts (This is an annoying measurement, I apologize. I buy them frozen from Trader Joe's and they come in 12 oz bags and I used half the bag. I imagine it would work with canned ones or more, or less, or whatever)
Dash of salt (okay like 4 dashes)
Ground pepper for topping
1. Place rice, water, wine, chicken broth, honey, and butter in a pot and turn the heat on high.
2. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium and cover. Let simmer.
3. Once you can start to see some rice peeking out from the liquid, toss in the tomatoes. Lightly mix.
4. Now run your frozen artichoke hearts under warm water for like 30 seconds-1 minute in a colander. Then, add them in.
5. Cook until there seems to be a sauce on the rice, but that the rice isn't, like, swimming in sauce or something like that. It's a moist rice dish, you don't want to over cook it, but also you don't want it soupy. You should know by looking, and if not, well, trial and error. Do make sure the rice is appropriately tender, if you aren't sure.
5. Plate, grind the pepper on top, and enjoy.
I had this as a meal by itself but it would be delicious alongside some chicken, or under some chicken, or on top of some chicken...I'm saying you should pair it with chicken, but the sky's the limit, really.
 |
| Behold: a food photo not taken on a wooden or white counter top, in perfect sunlight! #impatient |
Okay now for the story.
So I was on my own for dinner tonight and while I was driving home I was thinking about the frozen artichokes in the …well, in the freezer. And I was wanting to use them but not sure how to cook them, as I've never purchased frozen artichokes before. And then I thought about how I could use them with rice and started thinking about whether I could steam them while I cooked the rice, or, something, and then I thought about this place where I love to eat in Baltimore. It's called Bertha's Mussels. Here's the thing, though, I don't like mussels, so I've never ordered them, but I absolutely love this shrimp dish called Shrimp Maurice. That's where I got the idea for the rice, because this dish has a delicious lemon/honey/butter/wine sauce on it. Well, I decided to just attempt to make it up. So I got home and actually, you know, looked at the package of artichoke hearts and lo and behold! They have directions. You can, in fact, boil them in a little bit of water in a saucepan, so I decided to just add them at the end of the rice, as it says to do so above. So I did and I was pretty nervous, I mean, I just squirted some honey, spilled some wi...added. Added some wine to the pan (kidding, wine was so obviously needed…), and hoped for the best. Well, not to brag, but it was delicious. The consistency was great and the flavor was awesome; filling but not heavy. I am so excited about this dish I dug up my super old food blog!!!! RIGHT?!?! YES?!?! Anyway enjoy and be creative! Let me know if you think of changes or complete meals for this! (I suggest chicken. Oh right, I said that.)
