Grandma Jean’s Rice Pilaf

Grandma Jean’s Rice Pilaf Is The Perfect Side To All Of Your Holiday Meals.  Walk Away While It Bakes In The Oven.

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Grandma Jean’s Rice Pilaf is the side dish I remember from all of my family’s holiday meals while I was growing up.  Grandma Jean was the sister of Aunt Ruthie (of apple cake and rugelach fame) and they were both fabulous cooks.  My sister and I referred to this as “Grandma’s rice” but I decided it deserved a more explanatory title.  My grandmother used to make a huge batch of this and serve it in a large rectangular serving dish that rested in a metal holder.  I thought that was very elegant.  This is an easy side for brisket or our Smashing 40 Clove Garlic Chicken.

This recipe has only four ingredients and three of them are shelf-stable.  Fresh onions have a long shelf life, so you can make this dish without a lot of advance planning.  This recipe makes about four servings as written.

Grandma Jean’s Rice Pilaf calls for a cup of consomme.  Osem makes a beef consomme mix that is kosher but most of the other companies producing consomme seem to be sticking with chicken.  So, the logical solution would be to make our own kosher beef consomme.  That may be logical but it is not something I have any interest in doing, so that leads us to the first question:

What is consomme ?

Consomme is a fancy french word that means broth that has been strained and clarified with egg whites so that all the solids have been removed.  You should be able to drop a coin into a cup of consomme and be able to see it on the bottom of the cup. This high level of elaborate cooking is not at all what we are going for here at Our Jewish Kitchen. That is for restaurants who have a whole staff of people to spend the day peeling vegetables and clarifying stock.  Personally, I think the solids are best left in the broth.  We are using this in a recipe, not sipping it from delicate cups between courses.  (If for some reason you decide to do the coin trick, please don’t drink the consomme from the cup. Money is pretty dirty.)

What can I use instead of consomme?

For the first batch, I used a cup of canned kosher beef broth and it was delicious.  Osem is one brand of kosher Beef Consomme Mix  that I have found, but you may need to special order it if your market does not carry it. There are several brands of kosher chicken consomme mix, so that would be a fine substitute.  I think mushroom or onion consomme  mix would work very well, especially if you would like to make the dish vegetarian or parve.

Is it okay to use brown rice instead of white?

It is fine to use any type of rice or even a whole grain such as kamut or quinoa.  However, your cooking time will be longer.  If using brown rice, I would suggest doubling the cooking time, and checking it frequently after the first hour.

Products used in making this recipe:
Spicify Onion Consommé
Manischewitz Beef Broth, 32-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12)
Pyrex 8″ Square Baking Dish with Red Plastic Lid