When not for the first time, a work of fiction influences what I cook. And as I am on a bit of a Nantucket thing at the moment (Sarah Leah Chase thanks to a mention by Elin Hildebrand, I mean, who wouldn’t want cookery books called Nantucket Open-House Cookbook, or Cold Weather Cooking?) you should expect more Eastern Seaboard stuff coming up through the autumn and winter months….
Fictional food calls to me a lot. I read a novel which has references to food in and I pause to leap headfirst down a rabbit hole of nostalgia or discovery. And it bleeds into my work. I could even argue (and have) that my Leaf book is a love letter to, amongst other things, Rapunzel. Recently I was reading Louise Erdrich’s The Sentence. A jumble of a book which I don’t think quite worked as a novel but one of its many redeeming features was the amount of food which crept into it. There were heated discussions around Native American food, in particular, wild rice (manoomin). Preferred variety (in one scene, there are six types to try on one plate), growing areas, and, most personal of all, how it should be cooked. One person’s silken is another’s over-processed. “A wild rice argument can wreck friendships, kill marriages, if allowed to rage.”
The only “wild” rice I can get here is commercially produced (yes, I know that is oxymoronic) and imported from the US and I would love one day to try a whole variety. But meanwhile I really do like the sort I can buy. Wild rice isn’t actually a rice, it’s a different sort of grass, but the seed/grain does look rice-like, just longer and spikier. It has become a popular alternative to rice in my house. It works for us because we are all wanting to eat more wholefoods and everyone really loves the texture and flavour. It is often described as nutty, which seems to be a catchall for so many things - I have used it a lot myself - but it is a quite accurate, if lazy, descriptor.
How to Cook?
As so often is the case, I am quite nonplussed by the pressure cooker/Instant Pot Internet recipes which tell me that wild rice needs at least 45 minutes at high pressure. This is enough to pretty much disintegrate the inner kernel to a mush that is almost congee. Instead, I like to cook it for just long enough that most of the grains split open, lengthways. The two halves will sometimes curl back on themselves so they end up looking like conjoined crescents. It is still chewy, with a little bite, but cooked enough so you don’t give yourself jaw ache when working your way through a bowl of it. To achieve this, I cook at high pressure it in plenty of generously salted water or stock for 10 minutes and leave it to drop pressure naturally. For a slightly firmer texture, for using more sparingly in salads, 8 minutes is enough and for a softer texture (the husk will always be firmer), 12 minutes is ample.
You can drain the rice, return it to the pan with some oil and/or butter, cover with a folded tea towel and lid and leave to steam off the heat for another 10 minutes as you would do for rice proper. It does help with the texture.
I have yet to try cooking it by absorption method. There is always a trade off between water and fuel consumption - absorption takes less liquid but the cook time is much longer. I will have a go with my next batch.
I have a wild rice soup recipe I shall share soon. But last night we ate this:
One Pot Chicken with Corn and Wild Rice
2 tbsp olive oil
50g smoky bacon, diced (optional)
2 leeks, sliced into rounds
1 stick celery, finely sliced
1 long courgette, sliced into rounds
3-4 chicken thighs, diced
Kernels from 1 cob sweetcorn, or frozen equivalent - around 150g
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
2 large sprigs tarragon
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
75ml white wine or vermouth
150ml stock or water (chicken or vegetable best)
500g cooked wild rice
100g cream cheese - plain or a flavoured one like Boursin
2 medium tomatoes
Any herbs of your choice (I used chopped parsley, tarragon, a tiny bit of basil)
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