Northwoods Pilaf (Recipe)

Ingredients

1 cup wild rice

1 3/4 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock

1/3 cup vermouth

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

3/4 cup sliced celery

3/4 cup julienned carrots

1 10-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

1/3 cup sliced green onion

2 tablespoons chopped sweet red pepper

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Snipped parsley (optional)

Steps

1. Rinse the wild rice under running water for 1 minutes drain.  Set aside.

2. Preheat the oven to 325°.  Grease a 2-quart casserole; set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken broth or vegetable stock, vermouth and wild rice.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Set aside.  (Do not drain.)

4. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter or margarine.  Add the mushrooms, celery and carrots.  Cook and stir for 5 minutes.

5. Stir in the artichoke hearts, green onion, sweet red pepper, lemon peel, lemon juice, thyme, salt and pepper.  Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of the butter or margarine; remove from heat.

6. Stir in the rice mixture into the vegetable mixture.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared casserole.  Bake, covered, in the 325° oven about 45 minutes or until the rice is done, stirring once.  If desired, sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Tips:

Instead of vermouth, you can use 1/2 cup more broth or substitute white whine, sherry or water.

Wild rice is not really rice.  It is the seed of an annual marsh grass and is the only cereal grain native to North America.  Before using, rinse wild rice to remove any particles left from processing.  Because wild rice is expensive; you may want to substitute brown rice for part of the total amount.

Julienned means that the food has been cut into matchstick-thin strips about 2 inches long.  To julienne carrots easily, first cut the carrots into slices about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick.  Stack the slices and cut them lengthwise to make thinner strips about 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide.

 From : America's Best-Loved Community Recipes