SC - Re: Judging cooking - too much mint!

[Mark Schuldenfrei]

  << perfumed jasmine rice >>
  
  PERFUMED JASMINE RICE?.....hmmmmmm> I want the recipe, please? <beg, grovel,
  beg, kiss butt, hug, grovel, beg,beg>

It's a marketting slogan....  its as simple as pie.

Or, what do you serve for a starch to guests, when the potatoes have grown
sprouts without asking you first?  You improvise.

If I recall correctly, I sauted some chopped onion in white wine at the
bottom of a saucepan, with some black pepper.  I brewed about a pint of
jasmine tea (straight flowers, no black tea added) until it was quite
strong.  I mixed it with water to the correct amount for the rice, and
cooked.  When there was not much water left in the pot, I added a small
handful of frozen peas.  And finished.  It was very delicate, and had a
light flavor and a pale yellow color.  Which probably wouldn't have shown
except for the contrast with the green peas.  I might consider strengthening
the color with a few saffron threads in the future, and if I'd had
scallions, I would have used those instead.

This sort of thing grew out of a game my wife and I would play when the
lines were long in the grocery.  We'd stare into other people's grocery
carts, and try to make dinner out of what they had bought (plus the content
of our larder).  It can be a lot of fun.

Oh, a generic rice cookery tip.  My wife taught me this one: when the rice
is just about out of water, the grains can still be moist.  But if you drive
the water out with heat, you can easily scorch the bottom layer of rice.
She turns the pan off, takes it off the heat, and places a layer of paper
towel over the top, and replaces the lid.  Wait a few minutes. As the steam
rises, it gets trapped in the paper towel, and the remaining grains dry out
naturally.  It makes for a very fluffy rice.

	Tibor (2.5 cups water to 1 cup brown, 2 cups water to 1 cup white)