How to cook GREAT rice every time

You don’t need a rice cooker. The secret is to bake the rice. Not boil the rice. Just follow these tips from my favorite source, Sally Schneider’s book, A New Way to Cook. I made just two variations on her recipe. For the sake of getting more iron and nutrients in your rice, use beef broth, and, you you can use any rice, but Brown Basmati Rice is more nutritious, with a sweet, nuttier flavor.

• 1 1/2 teaspoons light olive oil or unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown basmati rice*
• 2 cups boiling broth
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• A heavy oven-proof saucepan and oven-proof matching lid

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.
2. In a saucepan, heat the oil over moderate heat until hot.
3. Add the rice, only, and cook, stirring constantly, until you can smell the rice and it’s covered with oil. (It smells amazingly good.)
4. Stir in the boiling water and salt.
5. Cover the pan, transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid has evaporated.

*You can substitute any rice. Just follow the proportions of liquid to water on the package. Saute the rice and bake in the oven for the same time it tells you to boil the rice.