Chile Time!

Here I go again, raving about our vacation in Minnesota BUT…

While we were there, we met Alan and Kay Zika, who in the fall produce one of our favorite things - Wild Rice. The Zikas and their family hand parch the wild rice in small lots, over open fires, so you get that nice smoky flavor when you cook it. The Zikas hand parched 10,000 lbs. of green rice this fall. They then hull the rice, using machinery that Alan built especially for the task. The hulled rice is then bagged in 1 lb. packages and sold to hungry customers.

Wild rice is actually not rice at all but a annual water-grass seed that produces a nutritious grain. For more on the history of this wondrous grain, go here.

Now, for the part we all really like: cooking and eating. Here is one of our favorite recipes, taken from the link above (and they have more than one recipe, too, as well as cooking instructions for stove top, microwave and oven).

Wild Rice Stuffing
1 cup raw wild rice
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sage
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup minced onion
4 oz. can mushrooms (or chopped fresh mushrooms)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme

Cook rice in boiling broth. Saute celery, onions and mushrooms in butter for 2-3 minutes. Combine all incgredients. Makes about 6 cups or enough to stuff a 10 lb. turkey. Also great with any wild game OR roasted chicken or pork.

After you try Minnesota wild rice, I can guarantee that rice will never be the same for you again.

Til next time…Diane

Tags: Minnesota, wild rice, , wild rice recipes, Cannons Sweet Hots