Watch This Pot

An important part of preparing wild rice is cooking it long enough. There are no hard and fast rules, but when done the rice should be tender and the kernels should be cracked, showing their fluffy insides.

Most cookbooks call for approximately 3 cups of liquid for every cup of wild rice. But as the rice cooks, you may need to add more water or chicken broth.

That’s how Deborah Marcum, wife of Dan Marcum, a wild rice expert in northeastern California, does it. She uses a combination of chicken broth and water to cook wild rice, then adds a little more of either as the liquid cooks away. Add liquid 1/4 cup at a time. Check the rice as it cooks so that it doesn’t overcook and become mushy; it may take 35 to 60 minutes, depending on how the rice is cured.

Marcum likes to store cooked wild rice in a sealed container or plastic bag in the refrigerator. Either cold or reheated, it makes a great snack, she says. She also likes to add prepared wild rice to soups, meatballs, meat loaves and hamburgers. Prepared wild rice also is great in stuffings, she says.

In fact, Marcum recommends wild rice for almost any recipe that calls for regular rice. One of her casseroles calls for already cooked wild rice baked with additional chicken broth, onions, celery and green bell peppers, with chicken pieces laid on top of the rice. “It’s a great favorite,” she says.