Side of the Day: Coconut Rice

Coconut Rice

So Jaime came over the other day and wanted to have a "cooking lesson".  It's not that she can't cook, in fact I bet if she put her mind to it she would be a great cook, she is Greek and they do know how to cook so it might be in her blood.  It's just that she doesn't want to cook.  Why? You ask.  Does she have a teeny-tiny NYC kitchen?  Does she not like to wash dishes? Are there no supermarkets near her?  The answer to all of these questions...NOPE!  Her kitchen is a beautiful stainless steel kitchen with granite counter tops.  She has a brand new dishwasher and the supermarket?  Across the street!  Of course she claims that it is a "Grade F Supermarket".  She claims that supermarkets have different grades of qualities (as usual with Jaime's claims I am not sure if this is true) and that the one across the street from her is rated at a the grade of F.  Ever wonder what happens to food that expires on the shelves before someone can buy it up?  Apparently it goes across the street to Jaime's supermarket!  I wonder if she knows this bit of information:

If you buy something from Food Emporium (and maybe some other supermarkets too) and it was expired already, you can bring it back and they will give you a refund for the product.  

This is why I find her story hard to believe.  Regardless, Jaime doesn't like to cook and wants to learn some easy recipes.  However, Jaime had a bad sushi dinner recently so our menu needed to be bland and limited.  Jaime needed to follow the BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Apples, Toast) diet, but loosely since she had been better for a while now so luckily, I had a twist on broiled chicken in my back pocket (The Lemon Broiled Chicken from earlier on the site) and a twist on rice, Coconut Rice.  

The Recipe:

2 Cups of Jasmine Rice

1 Tablespoon of Butter

1 Can of Coconut Milk

1 Cup of Water

1 Cinnamon Stick

Rinse the rice in a strainer until the water runs clear.  You will notice that at first the water will come out a milky white color, after about 5 minutes the rice water will most likely run clear.  

Melt the butter into a 2-3 quart sauce pan over moderately high heat.  Make sure that you swirl the pan as the butter melts because you do not want the butter to brown and burn.  Once the butter is melted add the rice, stirring constantly until the rice becomes an opaque color.  (This should take about 3 to 4 minutes.)

Next add the Coconut Milk, Water and the Cinnamon Stick to the rice and bring mixture to a boil.  (stir at least 3 times so that the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  No one (except Scott) likes burnt rice.)

Once at a boil reduce the heat to a simmer and cover for about 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand COVERED for 5 Minutes.  Take out the cinnamon stick, fluff the rice and ENJOY!  

TIP:  If you are cooking for just yourself, or just one other person, don't bother cutting the recipe down, in fact you might even want to double it. Why?  No one likes making, or thinking about, sides.  So take the leftovers and split them into individual (or double) sized portions and freeze in sandwich size freezer bags. 

For dessert I would have LOVED to try out my new recipe for Coconut Creme Brulee but due to Jaime's restrictions we just went with a light mini-yellow cake cupcake with Key Lime Frosting.  I'll try the Creme Brulee soon and share! So will Jaime cook this on her own now that she has been "schooled"?  Hmmm...I'm not too sure about that, but if she wants to...the recipe is here for her!

Note:  No picture today....I figured...Coconut Rice, looks like...rice!