Wednesday's Helping: Toasted Rice

Heating grains up a bit
The Mixed Stew has noticed a pattern of toasting rice in a little oil or even toasting cream of rice for certain dishes, such as our arroz con pollo. What gives? Well, the toasting process adds more flavor to the grainy rice flavor and the oil coating also reduces the rice's ability to absorb too much moisture. The trick is to avoid burning the rice fixings by constantly stirring slowly while it is on the heat. But do not stir too vigorously or you will change the texture even more. In fact, for our arroz con pollo, you must not over stir. It takes less than five minutes using a cast-iron skillet of frying pan. The cream of rice or rice grains will obtain a brown tint. The toasting process gives regular rice or cream of rice more of a nutty and earthy flavor.