Pilaf : The Albanian Connection

My mother was a fine pilaf cook. Hers was a Balkan-style pilaf, the sort found in Turkey, Greece and Albania, where low-starch, long-grain rice was preferred over starchy short-grain. The true test of “good” pilaf was to have each grain separate, like tiny, glistening pearls.

In her mind, there was no excuse for overcooked, mushy rice. Her rice dishes were works of art, concocted carefully to produce some of the most wildly sensual smells in my memory.

In this country, she insisted on using Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice--it seemed closest at the time to the basmati rice she used in her native Albania. No doubt the rice from her youth was imported from India or Egypt, certainly not from Albania’s neighbor, Italy, where short-grain rice was usually preferred.

She would dump handfuls of the converted rice into a saucepan filled with bubbling, salted water, and cooked it according to her own method, not the one listed on the box (which called for double the amount of water to rice). The rice in the saucepan cooked gently until the grains were barely soft, then she would drain them in a colander where steam finished the cooking.

Finally, the steaming rice was returned to the pot where a stick or two of unsalted butter had been melted. After mixing lightly with a fork, she mounded the buttery rice on a flat platter and more butter, clarified to a nut-brown hue, was poured, sizzling, over the rice. A generous sprinkling of black pepper, indispensable for the proper flavor, finished the job. Sometimes yogurt was passed to dollop over the rice, providing a wonderful cold-hot sensation to the palate. She’d serve the rice with roasts and stews.

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Sometimes the basic buttered rice was turned into a vaguely exotic side dish with a few simple additions, such as grated orange peel, raisins, skinned almonds and cinnamon, sauteed before mixing into the cooked rice.

Kabuni , as this elegant version was called in Albanian, ended up on our holiday table with turkey or leg of lamb.

Rice also turned up in baked dishes with lamb or chicken. Only then was the rice allowed to become moist--never mushy. It was faintly seasoned with oregano or fresh dill. And occasionally the rice was used with shredded cooked chicken as a filling for a filo pastry served as a side dish or luncheon meal.

Cold weather was sure to prompt my mother to prepare rice pudding, her sure-fire remedy to ward off sniffles, flu or colds. Mother’s rice pudding was a rather soft, creamy stove-top pudding, made with short-grain rice, preferably Carolina rice. The pudding was poured into shallow soup bowls, and dusted or decorated with cinnamon-sugar. We’d watch mother as she used her index finger and thumb to “pinch” cinnamon and sugar into a crisscross design over the pudding. It took practice to repeat the feat, which I enjoy applying on desserts to this day.

FANNY’S PILAF

Water

Salt

2 cups long-grain rice

1/2 cup unsalted butter

Freshly cracked pepper

Fill large saucepan with water. Season generously to taste with salt and bring to boil. Add rice. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain in colander.

Meanwhile, melt half of butter in same saucepan in which rice cooked. Add rice and mix lightly but well.

Turn rice onto large platter. Heat remaining butter in saucepan until light-brown in color. Pour sizzling over rice. Sprinkle generously to taste with pepper. Makes 4 servings

Each serving contains about:

538 calories; 81 mg sodium; 62 mg cholesterol; 23 grams fat; 74 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.28 gram fiber.

Note : Fanny’s Pilaf can be served plain or topped with yogurt.

Variation:

Cook rice as directed in Fanny’s Pilaf. Melt 1/4 cup butter in skillet. Add 2 tablespoons grated orange zest, 1 cup golden raisins and 1/2 cup blanched almonds. Saute until raisins plump. Add raisin mixture to cooked, drained rice and mix lightly but well. More or less orange zest, raisins and almonds may be used according to taste.

LAMB AND RICE BAKE

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut up

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, grated

1 stalk celery with leaves, chopped

1 to 2 small tomatoes, peeled and diced

Few sprigs parsley, chopped

1 cup long-grain rice

4 cups water or chicken broth, about

Salt, pepper

Dash oregano

Dash red pepper

Melt butter with olive oil in large skillet. Add chicken and saute until browned on all sides. Add onion, carrot, celery, tomatoes, and parsley and saute until vegetables are tender. Remove chicken and set aside.

Add rice to skillet and saute until rice glistens. Spread rice-and-vegetable mixture in baking dish. Add chicken pieces and water. Cover and bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is done, adding slightly more water if necessary to keep rice moist. Season to taste with salt, pepper, oregano and red pepper.

For more crusty surface, remove cover 10 to 15 minutes before end of cooking to brown top slightly. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

453 calories; 194 mg sodium; 112 mg cholesterol; 27 grams fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 27 grams protein; 0.30 gram fiber.

CHICKEN-RICE FILO PASTRY

Butter

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 cup long-grain rice

3 cups water or broth

3 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill leaves

Salt, pepper

2 eggs, beaten

10 to 12 sheets filo dough

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in skillet. Add onion and parsley and saute until tender. Add rice and saute until rice glistens. Add water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is almost absorbed, about 20 minutes. Add chicken and dill leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool slightly and mix in eggs.

Clarify 3/4 cup butter in clean skillet (heat until solids separate from liquid and skim off solids). Brush bottom and sides of 13x9-inch baking pan with butter. Layer bottom of pan with 5 to 6 sheets of filo dough, brushing each sheet with clarified butter. Spread chicken-rice mixture over filo layer. Top with remaining sheets of filo dough, brushing each with clarified butter. Trim edges if necessary and brush top sheet generously with butter to taste. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until filo pastry is golden brown and crisp. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Each of 6 servings contains about:

562 calories; 484 mg sodium; 193 mg cholesterol; 27 grams fat; 49 grams carbohydrates; 30 grams protein; 0.18 gram fiber.

FANNY’S RICE PUDDING

1 quart milk

1/2 cup short-grain rice, preferably Carolina rice

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup whipping cream or half and half

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Bring milk to gentle boil in large saucepan without scorching. Add rice and sugar and cook over low heat until rice is tender. Add whipping cream and simmer until cream is hot. Add vanilla. Mix small amount of rice mixture into beaten egg, then return egg mixture to rice mixture in pan. Remove from heat and stir until egg is incorporated. (Egg will cook in hot mixture.)

Pour into desired plates or pan to cool before serving. Stir when mixture begins to set to suspend rice evenly through. In small bowl mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle each serving with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

373 calories; 108 mg sodium; 102 mg cholesterol; 19 grams fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams protein; 0.05 gram fiber.