Yellow Rice

Yellow Rice with Corn (from Daisy Cooks) Arroz Amarillo con Maiz 1/2 cup Achiote Oil (see below) I couldn't find the ingredients for this so just used olive oil 1/2 cup Sofrito (see below) 2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels 1/2 cup alcaparrado or coarsely chopped pimiento-stuffed olives 2 to 3 tablespoons salt (this is way too much. Try 2 teaspoons) 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 bay leaves 3 cups long grain white rice Homemade or canned chicken broth as needed (about 4 cups) 1. Heat the achiote oil in a heavy 4- to 5-quart pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Stir in the sofrito and cook until most of the water is evaporated. Add the alcaparrado or olives, salt, cumin, pepper, bay leaves, and corn stirring to combine. When the mixture is bubbling, add the rice, stirring to coat and to fix the color to the rice. Pour in enough chicken broth to cover the rice by the width of two fingers. Bring to a boil and boil until the broth reaches the level of the rice. Stir the rice once, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, without opening the pot or stirring. Gently fluff the rice up by scooping the rice from the bottom to the top. Serve hot. Achiote Oil (From Daisy Cooks) Aceite de Achiote Annatto seeds, known as achiote in Spanish, are small irregularly shaped, deep reddish colored seeds about the size of a lentil. They grow in pods but are sold loose in jars in the spice aisle. (Or see the "Sources" section above.) Steeping annatto (achiote) seeds in hot olive oil for a few minutes will do more than give the oil a brilliant orange-gold color; it will infuse it with a nutty, delicate aroma and add a quick kick to whatever you use it in. This incredibly simple technique will become part of your repertoire, not just for the many dishes that call for it in this book, but any time you want a splash of color and a hint of annatto flavor. Makes about 1 cup 1 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons achiote (annatto) seeds Heat the oil and annatto seeds in a small skillet over medium heat just until the seeds give off a lively, steady sizzle. Don't overheat the mixture or the seeds will turn black and the oil a nasty green. Once they're sizzling away, pull the pan from the heat and let stand until the sizzling stops. Strain as much of the oil as you are going to use right away into the pan; store the rest for up to 4 days at room temperature in a jar with a tight fitting lid. In addition to using achiote oil to sauté onions, garlic and such, you can use it straight, painted onto fish and poultry headed for the grill or broiler. Sofrito (From Daisy Cooks) I made a ton of changes on this and would really like to try it the right way but the rice was still fabulous. There is no other recipe I could have chosen to open with. This is the one indispensable, universal, un-live-withoutable recipe. Having said that, it is incredibly easy to make with ingredients you can find at the supermarket. (I don't know where she shops, I couldn't find anything!) And if you can't find all the ingredients I list below see the note that follows for a very simple fix. What sofrito does is add freshness, herbal notes and zing to dishes -- you can do that with the onion, garlic, bell pepper, cilantro and tomato alone. In my house, sofrito makes its way into everything from yellow rice, black bean soup, sauce for spaghetti and meatballs to braised chicken and sautéed shrimp. Not only that, it freezes beautifully, so in about In 10 minutes you can make enough sofrito to flavor a dozen dishes. I'm telling you, this stuff does everything but make the beds. Try out your first batch of sofrtio in the recipes you'll find throughout this site, or add sofrito to some of your own favorite dishes that could use a little boost. You will change the way you cook. I guarantee it. Makes about 4 cups. If you can't find ajices dulces or culantro, don't sweat. Up the amount of cilantro to 1 ½ bunches. 2 medium Spanish onions, cut into large chunks (yellow onion) 3 to 4 Italian frying peppers or cubanelle peppers (1 bell red bell pepper with 2 slices bottles jalapeno) 16 to 20 cloves garlic, peeled 1 large bunch cilantro, washed 7 to 10 ajices dulces (see note below), optional (more cilantro and another slice of jalapeno) 4 leaves of culantro (see note below), or another handful cilantro 3 to 4 ripe plum tomatoes, cored and cut into chunks 1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into large chunks Chop the onion and cubanelle or Italian peppers in the work bowl of a food processor until coarsely chopped. With the motor running, add the remaining ingredients one at a time and process until smooth. The sofrito will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It also freezes beautifully. Freeze sofrito in ½ cup batches in sealable plastic bags. They come in extremely handy in a pinch. You can even add sofrito straight from the freezer to the pan in any recipe that calls for it in this book. Pantry Notes: Ajices Dulces, also known as cachucha or ajicitos are tiny sweet peppers with a hint of heat. They range in color from light to medium green and yellow to red and orange. They add freshness and an herby note to the sofrito and anything you cook. Do not mistake them for Scotch bonnet or Habanero chilies (which they look like)--those two pack a wallop when it comes to heat. If you can find ajicitos in your market, add them to sofrito. If not, up the cilantro and add a pinch of cayenne pepper. Culantro is not cilantro. It has long leaves with tapered tips and serrated edges. When it comes to flavor, culantro is like cilantro times ten. It is a nice, not essential addition to sofrito. (See Sources for both the above.)