In Pursuit of the Perfect Mexican Rice: Two Recipes.

I mentioned the other day my quest to find the perfect Mexican rice recipe.

Not too tomato-y, not too sticky. I’ve tried tons of recipes from all the better cooking blogs, to no avail; even Southern Living let me down, and Southern Living recipes NEVER miss.

But a couple of my blog readers came to my rescue, and I wanted to pass along their recipes.

From Holly:

I saw your blog and thought I would share a firehouse recipe that we have had for years. I think it is some of the best rice I have ever laid my lips on! Let me know if you try it and what you think.

P.S. I am a firefighter in Plano, but also live out in East Texas – God’s Country!

14 oz box of minute rice
1 can of rotel
1 jar of salsa, I use on the border medium
1 can of corn
Cilantro

Blend up the rotel, salsa, and cilantro
Large iron skillet preferred
Brown up the uncooked rice and drained corn on high heat
Once brown, pour in salsa mixture and approx. 2 cups of water
Cover and turn off the heat to an iron skillet and let sit for 20-30 minutes
If using a regular pan cover and place on low and let simmer until rice is tender

And from Michelle:

I read your blog about the mexican rice and I wanted to give you my recipe. I, too, LOVE mexican rice and never could find a good recipe; a hispanic friend have me her’s and it’s really good. Here goes:

1 1/2 C. uncooked rice
5 Tbsp. oil (I use canola)
4 oz. sofrito (found near the mexican aisle – in a hispanic grocery store, you can find it in 4 oz. packages; in the regular grocery store, it comes in a jar and I freeze the remainder in a ziploc for future use 🙂
3 C. chicken broth
1/2 C. chopped onion (chunky or finely chopped, whatever you prefer)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cilantro (optional) – a nice handful or if you like a lot like I do, add a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.

Stir fry onion with oil over medium heat until onion starts to turn a little clear (about 2 min). Add uncooked rice; stir fry another minute or so. Add sofrito and mix well. Add broth and cover. Cook around 20-25 minutes over low heat. It will start to stick and that’s ok; about 10 minutes in, I stir it around and re-cover. Another 5-7 minutes, stir again and add cilantro. Then check every couple of minutes until rice is tender. When I take it off the stove, then I add salt and pepper to taste (even though you cook w/ the chicken broth, it usually need a couple of dashes of salt).

Hope you like it. I usually get a rotisserie chicken, shred it and serve w/ some sort of salsa (or I have a yummy jalapeno ranch dressing recipe) on a corn tortilla w/ the rice on the side……muy bueno.

Many, many thanks for the emails and the recipes! I always love meeting new people through my blog.
I haven’t tried either recipe (yet), but rest assured that I will… I have made it my life’s mission, after all, to eat more carbs.

And on a totally unrelated note, I’m having trouble with my washing machine again… it’s shrinking all my clothes. I’m sure it has nothing to do with all the carbs.