Cranberry Saffron Rice Pilaf Recipe
Are you looking for a new side dish to serve at Thanksgiving dinner? Then this cranberry saffron rice pilaf is just the ticket. I made this rice dish a few weeks before Thanksgiving and it was a hit. The side dish goes amazingly together with a well made flavored turkey and cranberry sauce.
Typically a pilaf is a middle eastern rice dish that is always cooked in a seasoned broth, not just water like regular rice. It is also typically made with basmati rice but I use jasmine rice which works in a pinch. My rice substitution also helps to not have to buy a new kind of rice with every different recipe.
Another thing I need to state about making this recipe is that you need to use dry rice. You can’t use minute rice or parboiled baggie rice. This pilaf needs to cook slowly on a simmer for nearly thirty to forty minutes. But don’t let that scare you if you are only use to the perforated baggie rice bought in the stores. Just remember low and slow for this rice to work.
The amount of water in the pot is probably the hardest trick to master. Typically the recipe books say that to every 1 cup of rice you need 2 cups of water or broth; a 1:2 ratio. That ratio never seemed to work out for me. My mother-in-law, who is Filipino, taught me a great trick and I have used it ever since.
First you want to pour your rice in a pot and shake it so it is all even. Pour the water slowly into the pot until it is covering the rice. Shake the pot slightly so the rice evens itself out again. Now pour more water or broth in slowly. You want to pour enough water so that it covers the tip of your pointer finger as you touch the top of the rice. The water needs to reach the first crease or knuckle line of your pointer finger. Make sure you don’t push past the rice when you are touching it with your finger. This trick works every time so go ahead and give it a shot. Let me know if it works for you.
Cost to make this recipe.
This recipe is a One Acre Vintage Homestead – Pumpkin Patch Mountain Homestead original recipe. All images and text are all my own and original to One Acre Vintage Homestead – Pumpkin Patch Mountain Homestead.