Cardamom Rice Pilaf

Sometimes the fun in a recipe is gathering special ingredients and combining them to create new and surprising results. 

Simple recipes that deliver results which belie their efforts are always appreciated as well. 

But this week there appeared to be a combo that simply didn't seem to hold much hope for sublime simplicity.  Boy, were we pleasantly surprised.  Almost shocked, in fact ~



Per Nana:
                             

My intentions were NOT to make this week's recipe
of  Cardamom Rice Pilaf. Unfortunately for me,

 Tricia insisted on sharing some of the ingredients with me. 

 I could not refuse such an offer and with the

 recipe being so simple, I had to try it :)

It was well worth it.

I'm not certain whether adding the rice to the cooked

onions and seeds made the rice more tender, or if

it was using a different brand that usual...but the dish turned

out very tasty and not starchy. 

 Hubby and I had a lovely baked halibut with sauteed

 mushrooms on top to accompany this delicious dish.

I took a few photos which at this time cannot be seen,

due to the fact that I inserted my memory card into the

 space on my computer for a disc.  Duh !!!!   I have an appointment

 at the Apple store Friday morning to retrieve my card.

Not every day can be a good day, but it could be worse....

Per Tricia:

                     

I wanted to make this recipe since I had missed last week's

and knew Nana was "so-so" about it. 

 So I "took one for the team" , but I wasn't holding out

much hope for exciting results. 

Cardamom and I had gotten off to a rocky start with 
 the Ginger Carrot recipe,  but I was anxious to cook
with this ingredient again.  

 Since I was leaving early Sunday for a week away for work,

 I ended up cooking this dish by itself late on Saturday night.  

 Instead of enjoying this via a full meal like the
rest of the FF's members,my family found me
walking from room to room late Saturday

 night with a big bowl of rice, asking them
 to do "taste tests". 

"What is that ???"

 "It's Dorie food- just try some...."

"Hmmmmm, not too bad.  Hey, this is really good in fact. "

"What is it - rice ???" 

" Wow... You can make this again - should be good with chicken."

 I was very surprised myself, since I had expected something

 quite bland (yes, even with the cardamom added :) 

The rice was truly lovely. 

 So much so that my 15 year old was back in the kitchen

 within minutes of the taste test ...looking to fix a big bowl full. 

 For me, that is the ultimate compliment. 

Plus I am happy that I got to use that expensive jar of

 cardamom AND my new mortar and pestle :) 

Deadline met, I enjoyed my work week in DC and even

managed to make it over to a lovely independent

 gourmet shop in the Capital Hill area -  

"Hill's Kitchen".  Great fun.