Recipe: Cuban Saffron Rice

Cuban Saffron Rice
rec.food.cooking/Fred Whitlock

I made my first attempt to duplicate my mother's recipe... I spent quite a while trying to decide if it tasted the same or not. That means it was very close.

1/2 diced onion
1/2 diced green bell pepper
1 diced pimiento
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of fresh ground black pepper.
pinch of turmeric
pinch of saffron
1 clove garlic
1 chicken bullion cube
1 3/4 cup of water
1 cup long grain white rice

In a 8-inch omelette pan, saute the garlic, onion, green bell pepper, pimiento in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil (not extra virgin.) If you buy pimiento in the jar I might suggest substituting the liquid from the jar for the olive oil. This was sauteed to caramelize the vegetables over medium low heat so as not to burn anything (It all goes in the rice and you don't want any blackened ingredients.)

In a 2 qt saucepan heat 1 3/4 cup of water to a boil and add a Knorr chicken bullion cube. As soon as the cube dissolved. put in 1 cup of rice, the saute from the omelette pan, 1 tbsp. butter, a pinch of turmeric, a pinch of Spanish saffron, a couple of twists on the pepper mill and salt to taste (about 1/4 tsp. or so for this heart patient.) I covered the saucepan and cooked on low heat for about 20 minutes until the rice was ready. Voila! Cuban style saffron rice. Bright yellow color, light taste (because I didn't saute the raw rice) that nearly took me back to my childhood in Havana. Serves 4 or 5.

You can add a fried egg on top to make a meal of it or add chicken for "arroz con pollo" or seafood for a Cuban "paella." You can put in vegetables that you prefer or are seasonal for you. Peas and corn come to mind as interesting substitutes. We just ate it as one course of our meal this evening and enjoyed it a lot. I think the options are nearly limitless.