Wild Rice Recipes & Gallery

  New blog - "Reinventing the Gothic Format" - Sunday, December 3.

 A new dish for Thanksgiving? Really?

YES, it's allowed to add something new to Thanksgiving dinner. And, no, I forgot to take a photo. But below are two recipes for adding wild rice to your traditional dinner. Because I wanted to use REAL wild rice, a Native American black rice now mostly grown in Minnesota, I adapted a crockpot recipe that used - oh,horrors - packaged long grain & wild rice (readily available at most supermarkets while "real" wild rice has to be ordered - mine through Amazon). And, yes, it's expensive but not exorbitantly so. 

For our Thanksgiving dinner, I used the recipe on the wild rice box and added the "extras"s from the crockpot recipe. Amazingly, it worked. A truly delicious addition to Thanksgiving.

Grace's adaptation of Fruited Wild Rice with Pecans:

½ cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons butter, cut in chunks

1 cup wild rice

2¼ cups water

3/4 cup apple juice

Seasoning*

1 large, tart apple, chopped

¼-½ cup golden raisins

½ cup coarsely chopped pecans

 

*I used Mrs. Dash's "Everything" seasoning & a bit of Herb & Garlic + 

a twist or so of fresh-ground pepper.

Combine all but apple and pecans in a good-sized, preferably copper-bottom, saucepan. Bring to a boil; cover & reduce heat to a strong simmer. At c. 25-30 minutes, add chopped apple. Continue to simmer for a total of 50-60 minutes. Do NOT overcook. This means keeping a close eye on the pot during the final minutes. According to the package directions, the wild rice is done when it opens into the shape of a mini hot dog bun(!)

Drain off any remaining liquid in a colander. Put rice mix in 2-quart casserole dish. Add pecans. Stir in. To keep rice warm until leaving for dinner at my daughter's, I put it in a 250° oven for half an hour. Which turned out to be perfect for drying the rice and the final opening to the desired shape.

Original crockpot recipe:

½ cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons butter, cut in chunks

1 6-oz. pkg long grain & wild rice

Seasoning packet from wild rice pkg

1½ cups hot water

2/3 cup apple juice

1 large, tart apple, chopped

¼ cup raisins

½ cup coarsely chopped pecans

 

Combine all ingredients except pecans in greased slow cooker. Cook on High 2-2½ hours, or until rice is fully cooked. Stir in pecans.

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At Orlando Art Museum's Festival of Trees

                           (camera-shy Hailey acting as photographer)

Rainbows w/Cross, Virginia

 

Road in Chile

I vaguely recall a French movie about this from my college days - a trucker transporting dynamite on this road, a real hair-raiser.

Eagle photo by Liz Tyner

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This week's featured book:

There's a long holiday section in this one, appropriate for the Season.

 

Miss Aurelia Trevor has a problem. Until she reaches the age of twenty-five, she will have no control over her beloved Pevensey Park, and by that time her unscrupulous uncle will have run it into the ground. Marriage to someone other than her uncle's leering son is her only way out, but, one by one, she rejects the men on her list of suitors. In desperation, Aurelia does the unthinkable. She hires a solicitor to find her a husband strong enough to stand up to both her uncle and her cousin. And soon learns the truth of that old adage: Be careful what you wish for.

Thomas Lanning is a man of the City. Unlike Aurelia, who stands to inherit vast land and wealth, he has made his own place in the world. He is not at all tempted by the suggestion of marriage to an heiress, but other considerations, such as a power base for a seat in Parliament, tweak his interest. Plus an unexpected twinge of chivalry when he hears the full extent of Miss Trevor's difficulties with her uncle and his family.

Aurelia, who only wants to live in peace on her acres, finds she has acquired a ready-made family in Thomas's younger sister and brother, as well as a head-strong husband whose campaign for MP fills her household with a shockingly odd assortment of characters. It seems her marriage of convenience is fast becoming a marriage of inconvenience. Just how far will this strong-willed pair bend to accommodate each other? And will they do it before it's too late?

Reviews:

"Blair Bancroft's warm and tender [novel] boasts a great heroine in Aurelia: She's attractive, courageous, vulnerable and intelligent."
Robin Taylor, Romantic Times

"Reading how they gradually learn to like and eventually love each other is wonderful. Blair Bancroft is now definitely one of my favorite traditional Regency authors and this book is a prime example of why."
Nicole Hulst, Romance Junkies

"Set against a backdrop of rural politics (and a fascinating look at the early world of "buying votes) this is a story that entrances, enlightens and endears."
Celia at A Romance Review

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For a link to Blair's website, click here. 

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)