Recipe - Marilyns Persian Rice

1 tablespoon Butter
2 tablespoon Olive oil
1 Onion; chopped
3 Cloves garlic; minced
1 Dried red chile; seeded and
finely minced
One half teaspoon Cumin seeds; crushed
2 Cardamom pods; seeds removed
and finely crushed
One half teaspoon Ground ginger
One half teaspoon Saffron
4 One half cup Chicken stock; warmed
2 cup Longgrain rice
1 Cinnamon stick
1 Bay leaf
One fourth cup Dried currants
12 small Whole dried apricots; cut
in quarters
Three fourths teaspoon ;salt (optional)
One half cup Unblanched almonds
3 tablespoon Pine nuts
One half cup Unsalted pistachio nuts;
shelled
Black pepper to taste
3 tablespoon Fresh coriander leaves; torn

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and olive oil over low heat. Add onion
and garlic and cook until softened about 4 minutes stirring frequently.
Increase the heat a little and add the chile, cumin seeds, cardamom, and
ginger. Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes until it is fragrant. Add the
saffron and chicken stock, mix well and remove from the heat. Cover and let
the saffron flavor the stock for 5 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring the stock to a simmer over
moderate heat. Stir in the rice, cinnamon, bay leaf, currants, apricots
and the salt. Return to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and
cook for another 15 to 16 minutes. If the rice is too wet cook a little
longer.

Meanwhile, place the almonds and pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast them
in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes until lightly golden. Add the pistachios and
toast for another minute. Remove from oven and put on a plate to cool.

Uncover the rice and using a fork stir to fluff. Season with additional
salt and black pepper to taste. Add the nuts and toss it together. Sprinkle
the coriander on top and serve.

Judi's Notes: I made this dish using 1 cup of orange juice for one cup of
the chicken broth. My friend Marilyn would scold me if she only knew, but
it did give it a very good flavor. I also included One fourth tsp. of turmeric
with the other spices which enhanced the dish nicely and gave it a lovely
color too. This is great with lamb kebabs, warmed pita bread, a nice
middle eastern cucumber salad, and a Persian pastry for dessert.

Shared and MM by Judi M. Phelps. jphelps@shell.portal.com or
jphelps@best.com

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini