My mother was born in Russia but for her middle years till she got married she lived in Persia and was influenced by the cooking there. Some of her cooking has a strong Persian influence. Growing up one of our favorite side dishes was her rice with raisins. It's a very simple way to add some excitement to plain old white rice.
Make your rice as you would usually do. For this post all I had was Jasmine rice so that's what I used. After your rice is cooked, saute 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/3 cup of slivered almonds in a generous portion of butter (You can increase the amount of raisins and almonds according to taste or the amount of rice you are cooking). The rice will love the extra butter so don't worry if it looks like a lot. When the raisins get all nice and plump add the raisins and almonds to the rice with all the butter and stir it in. My mother sometimes puts this mixture in the oven at this point for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees before she serves it. I usually just serve it right away. Enjoy!
This sounds delicious!!
ReplyDeletesounds yummy!
ReplyDeleteThat looks so good! I may have to go to the store & buy some almonds now.....
ReplyDeleteAnother delicious way to enjoy rice..
ReplyDeleteThat's nice. And what I really like is the simplicity. Be great as a side for a night during the work week when one doesn't have the time or energy to spend on supper. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds great Ellen, it would taste good as a side dish to pork or ham.
ReplyDeleteThis is similar to a Lebanese special occasion rice, we add half of the nuts in and the other half to decorate the platter.
ReplyDeleteLove it
Yummmm! I like it already...and haven't even tried it yet.
ReplyDeleteGot to LOVE that Persian Influence! Great recipe Ellen!
ReplyDeleteOhh, thank you, Ellen. I'm surely going to try this...I love rice and raisons and almonds. Why not all together ?? It sounds/looks sooo good.
ReplyDeleteEllen, this really looks good. I love rice dishes, and like having a new side dish to try. Thanks Kathy
ReplyDeleteThis recipe has been printed and put on the kitchen counter..ready for a try! Your mom has gifted you with so many riches!!
ReplyDeleteI am soooo doing this; will be especially good with the leftover white rice we bring home from the Chinese restaurant. I cannot wait to try this! Thank you so much for sharing this delicious idea.
ReplyDeleteThis looks very good. My grandmother was from Russia, but I never lived near her when I was growing up. I may have to try this just to get a taste of my "roots".
ReplyDelete