rice Archives | The Good Hearted Woman

2015: Top Posts, What I Learned & Hopes for the Future

2015 has been a year for carefully counting my blessings.

I don’t know about you, but 2015 was a challenging year in our household. Of course, we celebrated many jubilant moments – the completion of junior high by our youngest daughter, the high school graduation and college entrance of another (Go Ducks!), and yet another daughter’s marriage to a wonderful young man we are now proud to call our son. Mr B took me on my first visit to Hawaii (there will be more!), we spent a week hiking in the beautiful Columbia Gorge, and we celebrated the typical joys of birthdays, family gatherings, and quiet moments.

But woven into the joyful fabric of 2015 were threads of deep loss and true heartbreak. We waited in hospitals for loved ones, watched Alzheimer’s steady theft of memory and joy; and, most profoundly, for one horrible season, we wept and prayed and watched helplessly as one daughter carried a baby we knew would only live for minutes. In the end, one of the greatest blessings I received this year came when I was able to get from Portland to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Denver just minutes before he died in his mother’s arms.

As I wrote previously, it has been a year to carefully count our blessings, and I am grateful for every one.

In a much smaller world, here on the blog, 2015 was a year of steady growth and learning. I attended a couple of blogger conferences (notably Camp Blogaway and IFBC 2015), where I met some amazing people and learned some important things in the process. But I think the thing that will impact the blog the most going forward is that my writing has finally broken through the metaphorical fourth wall, and now we are all in the room together. It’s becoming a conversation now, and we aren’t just talking about food anymore.

In brief, here is a run-down of the most popular posts of the year. In the end, it tells me a lot about what you are looking for, and I plan to use it as a road map going forward.

**Countdown of the The Good Hearted Woman‘s TOP 5 Most Popular Posts of 2015**

#5 – Eggs Provençal a la Renée

My version of La Provence’s Eggs Provençal, with its perfectly poached egg atop a pesto-roasted tomato slice, requires just 10-15 minutes of mild effort, and rewards you with a Pinterest-worthy plate every time.

#4 – Roasted Butternut with Bacon, Leeks & Goat Cheese

When I posted this recipe last spring, I wrote that you were going to thank me for it, and boy, was I right! In fact, it turned out to be my fourth most popular post of the year! Inspired by the best wood-fired pizza Mr B and I have ever eaten, this savory, slightly sweet combination of goodness – roasted butternut squash, leeks, bacon and bleu cheese – can be plated up in an almost endless variety of ways, from omelets to pasta to… well, even pizza.

#3 – Doernbecher: Hope in the Darkness {A Mother’s Story}

When I was asked to take part in Chevy Shop Social: Portland to benefit Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, I was thrilled. I have a very personal connection with Doernbecher, and I was grateful for the chance to share our story with my readers. However, this was one of the hardest posts I have ever had to write, because I had to revisit one of the most difficult and scary times of my life. It ended up being a story of Hope and Community, and the fact that it is on this list is profoundly telling.

#2 – The Skinnytaste Cookbook & Chicken Cordon Bleu Meatballs Recipe

Gina Holmoka’s Chicken Cordon Bleu Meatballs from The Skinnytaste Cookbook became an instant favorite in our household (vegetarians excepted, of course). After I made them the first time, Mr. B told me more than twice, “These meatballs are fantastic!” I have to agree, and based on the response to my tutorial post, so do you!

#1 – Redwork Chicken Tea Towel {A “Done-in-a-Day” DIY Project with Free Pattern}

Surprisingly (at least to me) this old-fashioned red work chicken tea towel was my most oft-pinned post of 2015! A perfect afternoon project, it’s fast, inexpensive, and simple to create. Plus, it’s so cute! If you want to make one of these lovelies, it will cost you just a few bucks and a couple of hours.

What’s Next?

So what does this short list say? Well, first off, it says you still like food. So do I , so Thank Goodness! 🙂 But you are looking for DIY posts here too: apparently you cannot have too many red work chickens, and my tutorial on how to make a tortilla warmer from 2013 is in my All-time Top 10. So going forward, I’ll definitely be doing more DIY posts.

However, the post that made the Top 5 that really surprised me – and the one that is ultimately most telling – is my Doernbecher story. It is full of hard truths about real life, and ultimately reflects what I believe many of us search for in this increasingly detached world – a way to connect and uplift one another. A way to feel part of a Community.

So that’s my goal for The Good Hearted Woman in 2016. Instead of just being another blog to bounce to from BlogLovin or Google, I want to continue to grow and develop GHW into a community of good hearted souls, where we can come together to share recipes and ideas, create beautiful things, and count our blessings.

I invite you to join me in this journey. Let me know what you like, what you don’t, and what you want to see. Be a part of the conversation.

I wish you great joy in the coming year. Please feel free to share your best moment or blog post from 2015 in the comments below.

Sweet Yellow Saffron Rice

January 26 By Renée ♥ 9 Comments

Yellow Sweet Saffron Rice is a delicate, decadent, delicious dish; equally suitable for a cozy night at home or a celebratory gathering of friends and family.

Last week, I shared one of my favorites Indian recipes – Indian {Pickling Style} Eggplant – inspired and adapted from one by Madhur Jaffney in her book, Indian Cooking. This recipe for Sweet Yellow {Saffron} Rice is another favorite, adapted from the same source. At our house, this dish is usually reserved for special occasions due to the pricey nature of saffron, and everyone I’ve ever served it to immediately falls in love with it.

Saffron, as you probably know, is arguably the most expensive spice in the world. Saffron comes from the crocus sativus plant, and is incredibly labor intensive to produce. Each saffron flower only has three threads, or “stigmas,” and each stigma must be hand-harvested. It takes over 13,000 stigmas to make one ounce of saffron threads.

High-quality saffron is produced primarily in Spain, India, Iran and some Pennsylvania Amish communities; however, there is also a lot of “fake” saffron out there, enticing consumers with its too-good-to-be-true price. Essentially shredded bark, the flavor and aroma of this knock-off stuff doesn’t hold a candle to the real thing. (Nothing does.) Be safe and only purchase your saffron from reputable, fair-trade spice dealers.

For this dish, I purchased my saffron from The Savory Spice Shop in Portland’s Sellwood District to the tune of $13 a gram. I can make three or four batches of Saffron Rice from one gram of saffron threads.

So, right about now you may asking, “Can I substitute anything else for the saffron?” The long answer is Maybe. Some people find that, for every day eating, turmeric makes an acceptable replacement in this dish. That said, the short answer – and my answer – is No. NO.

That’s all I’m gonna say about that.

Sweet Yellow Saffron Rice

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1/2 tsp saffron threads
2 Tbs warm milk
1 1/2 cup basmati rice
2 Tbs ghee or clarified butter
8-10 whole cardamon pods
1 2- inch cinnamon stick
3 cups water
4 Tbs sugar
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup slivered almonds

Instructions

Heat milk in a small bowl until it is steaming. Sprinkle the saffron threads into the hot milk and allow to soak for a couple of hours. (For deeper flavor, you can toast them in a dry skillet for a few seconds first, until they become a little deeper red, but be careful - that is spice-gold you're playing with there!)
Wash the rice several times, until water runs clear.
Drain and then soak the rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain for 20 minutes. (I have, on occasion, done this all in 10 minutes.)
Heat the ghee or clarified butter in a large skillet over medium heat. If you are using whole spices, add them at this time and saute for about 30 seconds.
Add the rice and saute gently for 3 minutes.
Add 3 cups of water and the salt. Gently stir rice and cook until all the water is absorbed.
Stir in the saffron milk, dried fruits and/or nuts, ground spices, and sugar.
Cover very tightly, and put into a 325° degree oven for 25 minutes. (Or 300° for 30 minutes, or 350° for 20 minutes, depending on what else you are cooking.)
Remove any whole spices before serving.

Easy Paella a la Aneto {Recipe}

October 22 By Renée ♥ 4 Comments

The folks from Aneto traveled all the way from Barcelona, Spain to Seattle, Washington to share their product at the International Food Bloggers Conference [IFBC] last month, and each time I had the occasion to speak with them throughout the weekend I became more and more impressed with their dedication to quality and their passion for their product. But “fancy words won’t feed the bulldog,” as my Dad might have said, so once I got home, I started to experiment. I wanted to find out if their product was as good as they claimed.

Before I go any farther, I should tell you that I am very sensitive to “processed taste”: the intermingled flavor of box or can, preservatives and flavor enhancers – to the point that I avoid nearly all prepared soups, stocks, and broths, as the high water content seems to absorb such processed flavors without fail. So it was with pleasant surprise that I found Aneto’s Valencian Paella Base to taste as close to “homemade” as I have experienced from a processed product in very long time. This shouldn’t be surprising though: the ingredient list – completely devoid of anything chemical-sounding or unpronounceable – reads like a card from your great-grandma’s recipe file: Chicken broth made with water, chicken, onion, carrot, cabbage, leek, celery, and sea salt. Sauteed vegetables made with rabbit, duck, tomato, virgin olive oil, ferraura beans, garrofon beans, snails, saffron and rosemary. That’s it.

Traditionally, Valencian Paella is cooked over an open fire, fueled by orange and pine branches. This cooking method produces an aromatic smoke which infuses the paella. I really liked that Aneto’s Valencian Paella Base is seasoned such that some of this old-world flavor finds its way into the paella, even when cooked on top of a modern stove.

Paella with Aneto | The Good Hearted Woman

Easy Paella {Recipe}

Course Main Dish

Servings 8 servings

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil divided
8 oz Spanish-style chorizo cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
4 garlic cloves minced
1 medium onion coarsely chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/4 cups short-grain white rice I use Arborio rice
2 1/2 - 3 cups Aneto Valencian Paella Base I found that I needed more
1 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
1 lb medium shrimp shelled and deveined, tail attached
Chopped Italian parsley

Instructions

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat. (I used a heavy-duty wok, and it worked perfectly.) Add chorizo and chicken and stir until chorizo is golden and chicken is cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add remaining tablespoon oil, garlic, onion and bell pepper to pan. Add paprika and saute for 5 minutes, or until peppers and onion are golden.
Stir in rice, broth and saffron, and bring to a rolling boil, uncovered. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 8-10 minutes..Stir in the shrimp and cook, covered, until shrimp are cooked through, about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in cooked chicken and chorizo. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand about 5 minutes more, or until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Recipe Notes

Simmering time will vary, depending on what kind of rice you use. Also, you may need to add additional stock or water as I did. Just be careful to not stir too much or you will end up with a very runny risotto instead of paella!

Mr. B loved this paella so much that he took it in his lunch every day for a week straight! Which reminds me – Paella is traditionally a party dish, and you can easily feed a small army with one batch!

A few words about Saffron:🎶 🌻 I’m just wild about saffron. 🎶 (If you are over 40, you just smiled.) Anyway, did you know that saffron is the single most expensive cooking ingredient on the planet? More expensive per ounce than truffles or good French wine. And TOTALLY worth it! You can make this recipe without the saffron, or you can substitute in turmeric, but really, there is nothing in the world that tastes like saffron except, well – saffron. (Just to keep Karma happy, when purchasing saffron, please be sure to look for an organic, Fair Trade product.)

Aneto products can be found at Whole Foods and online at Amazon.com (Affiliate link).

Disclosure: As an IFBC 2014 attendee, I received free Aneto products and the cool apron pictured above. As always, all opinions are my own.

Dolmades {Stuffed Grape Leaves}

November 13 By Renée ♥ 2 Comments

These savory little bites can be made for meat lovers and vegetarians (even vegans!), taste great warm or cold, and last for days. The perfect party snack!

How to roll a stuffed grape leaf - Step 1

Dolmades {Stuffed Grape Leaves}

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mediterranean

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1 jar grape leaves
1 1/2 cups rice uncooked
1 medium onion diced
2 Tbs olive oil
2 cups water
2 Tbs fresh dill chopped
1 tsp fresh mint minced
4 oz feta cheese crumbled
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper

Meat Option

1/2 lb lean ground pork
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Instructions

In a dry skillet, toast pine nuts until lightly browned. Set aside.
Saute onion in olive oil until golden. Add rice and saute until rice is coated and very lightly browned. Add water, salt and pepper and simmer until water is all absorbed and rice is half cooked.
Add rest of ingredients (except grape leaves and lemon juice) and toss to mix well.
If you are making a portion of the rolls with meat, divide mixture into thirds at this point. To each third that you wish to make with meat, add 1/2 pound lean ground pork, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and a few grinds of pepper.
Roll mixture into grape leaves. burrito-style. (See pictures below)
Line skillet or large pot with additional grape leaves, and lay stuffed grapes leaves in one tightly stacked layer on the bottom of the pan. Pour 1/2 the lemon juice over the top and add enough water to cover the dolmathes halfway.

You can cook these a couple of ways:

Simmer for about 45 minutes on low, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is fully cooked - OR - Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Bake about 35-45 minutes at 350F.
When the dolmathes are done, pour the rest of the lemon juice over the top.
Serve warm or cold, with Feta-Dill Sauce or tzatziki.

Pine nuts can be very expensive, but I buy mine in bulk, and just get what I need – no more – so they really aren’t too bad, and a little goes a long way. If you really don’t want to use pine nuts, you can substitute chopped walnuts or pistachios.

Meat-eaters’ Option:
Divide mixture into thirds. Make vegetarian rolls with 2/3 of mixture. With the remaining 1/3, add 1/2 pound lean ground pork or ground lamb, plus about 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. (I always use pork because I don’t eat lamb, but Mr B is lobbying for lamb-stuffed rolls one of these days.) I cook my meat rolls in a separate pan from my vegetarian rolls, but this depends entirely on the preferences of the vegetarian eaters in your house – the rolls can be cooked all together.

Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet until lightly browned. At the exact moment when these were just starting to toast, My kids had a minor crisis and I turned my attention away from them for a few seconds. Such is life.