Faith's Saffron Rice with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts (ROZ MLOW’WAN)

Faith's Saffron Rice with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts (ROZ MLOW’WAN)

You're going to have fun here today! So many super links for you to check out, each containing a fabulous recipe. Why? Well, sweet blogging friend Faith Gorsky from An

Edible Mosaic just had her first cookbook released: An Edible Mosaic: Middle

Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair. I’m excited to be participating in

her virtual

book launch party and sharing a recipe from her wonderful book. Congratulations, Faith!

Be sure to visit her blog....she's got some amazing giveaways!

A little background on the book along with Faith's story: The book has over 100 Middle Eastern

recipes, with a focus mainly on dishes from the Levant, but also a few recipes

from other areas of the Middle East. Faith has a pretty unique story…after

getting married Faith spent six months living in the Middle East, where she

fell in love with the culture and cuisine. Subsequently, she returned four more

times for visits, each time delving deeper into the cuisine and deepening her

passion for and appreciation of the region. Recipes in her book are authentic

Middle Eastern (taught to Faith mostly by her mother-in-law, Sahar), but streamlined

just a bit for the way we cook today, with unique ingredients demystified and

cooking techniques anyone can follow. If you didn’t grow up eating Middle

Eastern food, it can be a difficult art to master; Faith understands that, and

explains complicated dishes in an approachable, easy-to-follow way. The

book is available to order on Amazon and

Barnes

& Noble!

After you check out the recipe below, please head over to Faith’s

blog to check out her virtual

book launch party to see the other bloggers who are participating. Also, as part of her

virtual book launch, Faith is hosting a giveaway of a fabulous set of prizes.

Be sure to head over and enter!

My rice did not turn out as yellow as Faith's, probably because I used saffron threads and didn't have enough, but the flavor was there. I may try tumeric next time just to see the difference. But I did use the cinnamon stick and cloves as Faith suggested. I'll be making this often. Delicious!

Saffron Rice with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts

(ROZ MLOW’WAN)

Serves 4 to 6

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

1. Soak the rice in tepid water for 10 minutes; drain. While the rice is soaking, put half a kettle of water on to boil.

2. Add the oil to a medium, thick-bottomed lidded saucepan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and cook until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer the pine nuts to a small bowl and set aside.

3. Add the onion to the saucepan you cooked the pine nuts in, and cook until softened and just starting to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rice and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the sultanas, boiling water, salt, and saffron (or turmeric), turn the heat up to high, and bring it to a rolling boil.

4. Give the rice a stir, then cover the saucepan, turn the heat down to very low, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes (do not open the lid during this time). Turn the heat off and let the rice sit (covered) 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

5.Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the toasted pine nuts on top; serve.

OPTIONAL Add two pods of cardamom, two whole cloves, and one 2-inch (5 cm) piece of cinnamon stick at the same time that you add the rice.

VARIATION

Mixed White and Yellow Rice

Serves 4 to 6

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes, plus 15 minutes to let the rice sit after cooking

1½ cups (325 g) uncooked basmati rice, rinsed

2 tablespoons oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 bay leaf

2 whole cloves

2 pods cardamom, cracked open

2 whole peppercorns

¾ teaspoon salt

1¾ cups (425 ml) boiling water

1-2 pinches saffron threads or ½ teaspoon turmeric dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water

1. Soak the rice in tepid water for 10 minutes; drain. While the rice is soaking, put half a kettle of water on to boil.

2. Add the oil to a medium, thick-bottomed lidded saucepan, cover and place over moderately high heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the rice, bay leaf, cloves, cardamom pods, peppercorns, and salt, and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the boiling water to the rice, turn heat up to high, and bring it to a rolling boil. Give it a stir, cover the pot, turn heat down to very low, and cook 10 minutes (don’t open the lid during this time).

4. After the rice is cooked, let the pot sit with the lid on for 15 minutes, then fluff the rice with a fork. Transfer 1/3 of the rice to a separate bowl.

5. Stir the saffron or turmeric-colored water into 1/3 of the rice (the rice will turn yellow). Mix together the yellow rice and white rice; serve.