As I continue on my journey through the Woman’s Day Collector’s Cookbook from 1960, I’m finding it a little difficult to choose which recipes I want to prepare. There are some recipes that are way out there, that I know once prepared, no one will really want to eat, and that to me is a waste of food. There are some recipes that are very similar to things I make now, and in my mind, that’s kind of a cop-out in cooking through this book. So when I’m looking for something to make, my primary criteria has become that I want to make something different, but not too different, if you know what I mean.
Adding to the challenge here is that a good many of these recipes are really poorly written. They omit ingredients in the directions, and a clueless cook would have no idea where to add them in. Some recipes are written in paragraph form, and don’t give you a nice tidy list of ingredients to assemble and prepare before cooking, and overall, if nothing else, this book is in major need of a re-write, simply to get the recipes to be more easily understood.
Up to this point I’ve cooked from chapters titled Chicken, Pork, Appetizers and Vegetables. This week I am adding Rice and Hot Breads. Today, we get a glimpse of rice.
What made me want to try the recipe for Peanut Rice was that it was different, yet not too different. I figured the end result would be a sort of pilaf, and given that it had peanuts and celery in it, I thought there was a chance it might be a winner with my kids. It also struck me as nice and easy, and the day I cooked this up we had time issues, so I was happy to have something quick to prepare.
I started by preparing a simple pot of hot cooked rice. I brought 2 cups of water to boil, added a pinch of salt, and then stirred in 1 cup of plain old uncooked white rice. I stirred it up, added the lid, and turned the burner down to simmer. Then I set a timer for 20 minutes and walked away to do something else.
While the rice was finishing up, I cooked 3/4 cup of sliced celery in 3 tablespoons of butter. This amounted to about 2 smaller size stalks of celery. I cooked this for about 5 minutes, and then I added 1 teaspoon of minced onion flakes and tossed that around for a minute. By then my rice was done, so I scooped out about 2 cups right into my saute pan, and then added 1/2 cup of chopped salted peanuts. I cooked this all together for a minute or two, and then was ready to serve it up with some country style pork ribs.
The rice was okay. The kids weren’t crazy about it, but I found it strangely addicting. The peanuts and celery really went together and added a nice crunch to otherwise boring old rice. I was glad we tried it, but I doubt I’ll be making this again since no one else in the family seemed to be very fond of it. As for Andy’s point of view, his was of utter silence, and generally when he doesn’t say anything, I can take that as a take-it-or-leave-it kind of thing, so this one won’t make our table again. However, if you cooked it with oil instead of butter, this would be a perfectly suitable side dish for a vegan or vegetarian meal. It might also be good used as a stuffing for bell peppers or zucchini.
Peanut Rice
“Good with poultry”
Cook 3/4 cup minced celery in 3 tablespoons butter 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon instant minced onion, 2 cups hot cooked rice, and 1/2 cup finely chopped salted peanuts. Toss lightly, and serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley. Makes 4 servings.