Goddess Of Scrumptiousness

Rice Pilaf with Shiitake Mushrooms and Cervelat Sausage

I love Basmati Rice! I find the long and slender grains so elegant and graceful on the plate.

I don’t cook with Basmati rice that often because it is like 80% more expensive than our regular rice staple, but still I buy a 2 kilo bag of it just to cheer myself up… yes, certain food ingredients have the ability to cheer me up and one that gets the grand price is CHEESE (specifically BRIE and CAMEMBERT) but that is a different story that is bound to be told one day. Anyways, back to Basmati!

As I was saying, Basmati rice cheers me up because I love cooking Rice Pilaf and fragrant and brilliantly spiced Biryani dishes. I mean, What could be better? All one has to do is put any kind of meat and spices and aromatics along to flavor the rice, cook everything in one pan, wait for the Basmati rice to cook and after that, all one has to do is dig their spoon into a mound of savoury rice which serves as a complete meal + you only have to wash one pan! :)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 medium size red onions, diced small

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 cups Basmati rice

4 cups chicken stock

2 links Cervelat sausage (or any sausage of your preference), sliced and fried

2 cups dried Shiitake mushrooms (rehydrate mushrooms in hot water for 30-45 minutes before cooking, then drain)

1/4 cup chives, chopped fine

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped fine

chili flakes (optional)

salt (if needed) and cracked black pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Rehydrate the dried Shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 30-45 minutes. After mushrooms are rehydrated, drain and set aside.

2. Slice sausage links into rounds and brown in a skillet. Once cooked, set aside.

3. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, melt butter and add onions, bay leaves and turmeric powder. Saute the onions until soft and translucent. Then add the Basmati rice and saute for 5 minutes.

4. Add the drained shiitake mushrooms and chicken stock and gently stir the rice. Turn the heat to high and wait for the stock to boil. Once the stock boils, turn down the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer rice until all stock is absorbed and the Basmati rice is cooked and tender, about 15 minutes.

5. Uncover the pan and add the chili flakes (optional), chopped chives and browned sausages and season with salt (if needed) and cracked black pepper to taste. Gently stir the Rice Pilaf using a large serving fork (to easily fluff up the rice and prevent it from clumping together).