Carolina Gold Rice Recipes

CAROLINA GOLD RICE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sizzling hot (see Know-how, page 100). Add the shallot and cook and stir for about 2 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the rice, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir to coat with oil and butter. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the thyme and just enough broth to cover the rice by about 1/4 inch, stirring just once to combine.
• Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.
• Often called the grandfather of long-grain rice in the Americas, Carolina Gold is a beautiful variety that was the star of the antebellum rice trade and a driving force in the creation of a distinct Southern culinary tradition. Despite these claims to fame, Carolina Gold fell by the wayside after the Civil War, along with the South's rice economy. It was half forgotten and nearly extinct by the time Richard Schulz, a Georgia surgeon and plantation owner, rehabilitated the grain in the 1980s. Thanks to his efforts, it is now once again commercially available from vendors like South Carolina's Carolina Plantation Rice and Anson Mills (see Sources, page 377).

CHIPOTLE CHICKEN & RICE

Steps:

• Step 1 Season chicken with chili powder and salt. Step 2 In large Dutch oven or saucepan set over medium heat, heat 2 tbsp oil. In batches to avoid crowding, add chicken and cook, turning, for 5 to 7 minutes or until starting to brown all over, adding more oil as needed. Using slotted spoon, transfer to plate as chicken is browned. Step 3 Add onion and garlic to oil in Dutch oven set over medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until starting to soften. Stir in rice, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until well coated. Step 4 Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Stir in lime juice. Return chicken to Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Step 5 Before serving, fluff rice mixture with fork and garnish with cilantro. Recipe Tips: Add 1 cup frozen vegetable medley - such as peas, corn and carrots - in the last 10 minutes of cooking if desired. For a zesty addition, add 1/2 cup sliced green olives or 1/4 cup drained capers with the lime juice in Step 4.