The big 3-0 #15 - Learn how to cook rice

I don't like to brag but I am a pretty decent cook. I enjoy cooking and baking so if you enjoy something then you do tend to be adequate at it. When I met my husband he had quite a bland pallet and half the stuff I cooked for him he hadn't even heard of let alone eaten before.

I'm not saying I am an excellent cook but I will go as out there as to say my cottage pie is one of the best things I have ever stuffed in my gob!

Yet, I have a nemesis in the kitchen. Rice.

I have no idea what it is but I just cannot seem to cook rice properly, it's my culinary kryptonite!

Whenever I open the cupboard those tiny grains of complex carbohydrates sit in their crinkly plastic homes and mock me.

It just never ever comes out right. I remember once, my sister and I decided to cook a chili and we had three (THREE!) massive saucepans cooking rice because we had measured it wrong and it kept expanding so we had to keep separating it then we kept adding more water, suffice to say there was A LOT of inedible rice thrown into the bin. It haunts me every time I cook some sort of dish that's sidekick is rice.

That's why I am so thankful for microwavable rice (in fact this is pretty much the ONLY thing I use my microwave for)

So as part of my 30 before 30 list I decided to punch rice right in the kisser.

I gingerly picked up the bag and read the instructions, I also looked at several on line guides. 1 part rice, 2 parts water, easy peasy. I was ready.

It didn't start well as, when I picked it up, my butter fingers appeared in full force and I watched the bag fall in slow motion and my hands tried desperately to grab but to no avail then I heard the thud and the bag ripped spewing its contents all over my work top...

And floor!

 I kept reading that you should place rice into a colander/ sieve and run cold water over it until the water runs clear- I had a blonde moment and poured my rice into my drainer that has holes big enough for kidney beans to fall through - hence the sink being full of rice!

 After re-measuring and rinsing I got the rice into the pan, then it was just a waiting game

 

I got a bit concerned by the starchy water overspill but I was told not to remove the lid under any circumstance!

 

 10/15 minutes later I carefully lifted the lid and to my utter surprise I was faced with some fluffy rice!

 Taste test began...

 Smelt good, looked good...

 I ponder and chew...

 And it ain't bad :)

 

Nicki- 1 Rice- 0