Diana Kennedy is one of my culinary s-heroes. Back in May when I learned of the opportunity to watch the documentary film Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy from my pal Gabrielle, I ordered the movie rental that day (via Rafael @ Home) and signed up for the video chat featuring the director, Elizabeth Carroll. Joining the conversation were Alice Waters, Gabriela Camara, and moderated by Lesley Téllez.
The documentary is an insightful telling of the journey of the uncompromising and feisty Kennedy’s life and travels throughout Mexico. Kennedy, now 97 is British, but has spent most of her adult life living outside of Mexico City and is widely recognized as the world’s leading researcher, writer and teacher on Mexican cuisine.
Long a fan, I have a small collection of her cookbooks and enjoy both browsing through for inspiration and recipes. Her Oaxaca al Gusto is a glorious, display-worthy publication with enthralling photography. I can almost hear Kennedy’s voice behind recipes and headnotes.
Of her cookbooks, one that has the most approachable recipes is From My Mexican Kitchen, Techniques and Ingredients. It is from this book that I prepare her Arroz a la Mexicana, or Mexican Rice. It’s the familiar rice commonly served at your favorite Mexican restaurant, and easy to prepare to enjoy it anytime at home.
Whilst Diana will surely chide one for using canned, crushed tomatoes in place of fresh, I say go with what is most flavorful and available. Vine-ripened tomatoes that taste truly tomato-y are available in our summer months, so if you’ve got one use it! This recipe is also a good place to use the one that’s been left on the counter a bit too long, and best enjoyed pureed into the cooking of Mexican rice!
I’ve halved the ingredients from the recipe in the cookbook as I most frequently cook for two these days. Just double the ingredients if you need to scale it back up for a lager quantity.
Arroz a la Mexicana
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup long-gran white rice
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used avocado oil)
- 3/4 cup ripe tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon white onion coarsely chopped
- 1 clove fresh garlic coarsely chopped
- 1-1/2 cup chicken broth low-sodium (substitute vegetable broth for a vegetarian version)
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon green peas optional
- 1 tablespoon corn kernels optional
- 1 serrano chile optional
Instructions
- Pour hot water to cover the race and let soak for about 5 minutes. Strain, rinse in cold water until the water runs mostly clear and strain again, shaking the strainer to remove any excess water. Do this when ready to cook the rice, not ahead of time, to minimize the rice absorbing too much water.
- Place the tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a blender jar or small food processor, and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. (The one I use is about 3-inches deep and 8-1/2 inches in diameter. Wider and shallow is better than narrow and deep to steam rice.). Stir in the rice -- it should sizzle as it hits the oil. Stir until the grains are evenly coated and continue frying over medium heat until they just take on a golden hue, about 7 - 8 Minutes.
- Stir the tomato puree into the rice and continue frying over medium high heat, scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid sticking, until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid; about 4 - 5 minutes.
- Add the broth and the optional ingredients' stir the rice well, and salt and cover the pan leaving the lid slightly ajar to allow steam to escape. Continue cooking over medium heat until most of the broth is absorbed and small holes appear on top. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, place the lid on tightly, and cook another 4 - 5 minutes until no liquid is visible. Turn off the heat and let the rice continue steaming for about 10 minutes.
- When serving, gently stir the rice from the bottom with a fork to ensure all the flavorings that may have settled get reincorporated into the rice.
Notes
