[Sca-cooks] Big batches of rice

[Christine Seelye-King]

Don't be scared of large quantities of rice, bake them!
Large Quantities of Grain - . When cooking a large batch of grains, instead
of using a pot with boiling water on top of the stove, bake it as a ‘pilaf’!
In a large, deep, baking pan, place grain, liquid, fat, and seasonings.
Heat oven to 350 degrees (25 degrees in either direction won’t hurt if you’
ve got something else in the oven as well, just watch the cooking time).
Place baking parchment or wax paper over the top to keep the top layer of
grains from drying out, and bake for between 45 - 90 minutes.  Check after
30 minutes to adjust cooking time.  No more nasty burns or sticking to the
bottom of a large pot to deal with!
If it's white rice, go for two parts liquid to one part rice, a bit more
liquid if its brown rice.  Your liquids can be water, stock, soup, etc.  The
fat is just enough to oil the pan usually, but can be more if you want a
richer final product.
One of the nicest parts about this is that you can put it in the oven and
not worry about stirring it, just check on it half way through and again
towards the end.  It frees up your stove space (but takes up oven space),
and usually gives beautiful results.  Problems tend to be not enough water
or not enough cooking time= crunchy rice.
Seriously, this method beats boiling a bunch of noodles!
Good luck,
Mistress Christianna MacGrain