My Mom addicted me to crack
Yes, it's true. My mom is responsible for my crack addiction. No, not rock cocaine, I had neither the inclination nor money to ever go down that path thank Gawd, and I'm quite happy about that. I'm talking food crack of the highest order. Old stylee, weeknight, whipped up in a flash from Good Housekeeping magazine, Mom cooking crack - Spanish Rice.
I hadn't thought about this dish in all the years since l left home, but recently Patty inherited a hand assembled cook book from her mom, full of gorgeously retro how-to supermarket to family table menu items and when I saw the Spanish Rice entry I was all like. HEY ME TOO, ME TOO. MY MOM MADE THIS TOO. And it's true, she made this pretty much once a week. In our house Spanish Rice was a basic staple of hot comfort food that brought back all sorts of family table time memories. So we decided to make it straight out of Patty's mom's Betty Crocker branded do-it-yourself cookbook and see if it still held magic or like so many good memories from childhood, is just a fabrication of self-appeasement and resignation.
But we did and dang if it wasn't just perfection in a casserole dish, exactly as I remember. Such absolute crack that on subsequent nights I've resorted to cutting the recipe in half so I don' t consume too much and fall into a childhood food coma.
It's really basic and nothing really twee or special. And despite the name, there is nothing even remotely Spanish about it. But it is so good, I defy you try and stop at a single serving.
First you take a quarter cup (half a stick) of butter and melt it to frothing in a large skillet, then add half a pound of hamburger meat as low fat content as you can find (7% or less) ) bust into chunks and brown to a soggy doneness, careful NOT to over cook.
Next add in a finely diced med sweet onion and half a red bell pepper, chopped into medium cubes, and cook them for about 3 minutes tops so they still have some crunch value.
At this point you stir in a cup and a half of instant rice (Uncle Ben's for nostalgia's sake, but any instant rice will do). Stir in and fold till it start to get a tiny bit browned. You'll be able to smell this more than see this. It's one of those kind of "You'll know it when it happens" moments.
Then you mix in an 8oz can of tomato sauce and a teaspoon on prepared mustard, a dash of salt and some pepper to taste, crank up the heat to bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer for 7 or 8 minutes until it's getting semi gloppy, though it's okay to be slightly on the swirly/soupy side of thick as it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Serve immediately with a light avocado and red onion salad and instantly relive my childhood.
My childhood, like yours was probably darker and more full of ennui than you'll admit to, but this dish helps fix a bit of that.
I hadn't thought about this dish in all the years since l left home, but recently Patty inherited a hand assembled cook book from her mom, full of gorgeously retro how-to supermarket to family table menu items and when I saw the Spanish Rice entry I was all like. HEY ME TOO, ME TOO. MY MOM MADE THIS TOO. And it's true, she made this pretty much once a week. In our house Spanish Rice was a basic staple of hot comfort food that brought back all sorts of family table time memories. So we decided to make it straight out of Patty's mom's Betty Crocker branded do-it-yourself cookbook and see if it still held magic or like so many good memories from childhood, is just a fabrication of self-appeasement and resignation.
But we did and dang if it wasn't just perfection in a casserole dish, exactly as I remember. Such absolute crack that on subsequent nights I've resorted to cutting the recipe in half so I don' t consume too much and fall into a childhood food coma.
It's really basic and nothing really twee or special. And despite the name, there is nothing even remotely Spanish about it. But it is so good, I defy you try and stop at a single serving.
First you take a quarter cup (half a stick) of butter and melt it to frothing in a large skillet, then add half a pound of hamburger meat as low fat content as you can find (7% or less) ) bust into chunks and brown to a soggy doneness, careful NOT to over cook.
Next add in a finely diced med sweet onion and half a red bell pepper, chopped into medium cubes, and cook them for about 3 minutes tops so they still have some crunch value.
At this point you stir in a cup and a half of instant rice (Uncle Ben's for nostalgia's sake, but any instant rice will do). Stir in and fold till it start to get a tiny bit browned. You'll be able to smell this more than see this. It's one of those kind of "You'll know it when it happens" moments.
Then you mix in an 8oz can of tomato sauce and a teaspoon on prepared mustard, a dash of salt and some pepper to taste, crank up the heat to bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer for 7 or 8 minutes until it's getting semi gloppy, though it's okay to be slightly on the swirly/soupy side of thick as it will continue to thicken as it cools.
Serve immediately with a light avocado and red onion salad and instantly relive my childhood.
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