Saffron rice

Part 2 in our latest series: How I showed my girlfriend that I love her by giving her food poisoning that one time.

The whole dish is expensive, but this is the most expensive one because of one reason: saffron. Yes, the main dish has sausage and shrimp and mussels and costs a pretty penny, but just factoring the size of the item compared to price of it, it’s got to be saffron.

Recipe courtesy of Thomas Keller’s ad hoc at home

1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
salt
1 tsp. saffron threads
2 cups short-grain rice
2-3/4 to 3-1/2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion. Season, then reduce heat and cook for 3 minutes. Add the saffron. There goes your money!

Reduce the heat to very low, and cook for another 2 minutes. You do not want to brown the onion or cook the saffron. Add the rice and cook over medium to toast the rice for a minute or two. Next, add 2-1/2 cups of stock and cover with a lid. Keller uses a parchment lid, but I did fine with a regular class or metal lid. Simmer for about 8 minutes or until most of the stock is absorbed.

Stir the rice, then reduce heat to low. Add an additional 1/4 cup of stock, cover, increase the heat and simmer for about 3 minutes until stock is absorbed.

Taste the rice and continue cooking, adding 1/4 cup stock until the rice is almost tender. At most, you can add 1/4 cups of rice three times (equaling 3/4 cups total) so not to overcook and mush up the rice.

Once the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed, season with salt.

Serve.

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