surprising use for an impulse foodie purchase

Last Spring when Prof. Hubs was living in Boston we would spend part of our weekends together on various kitchen experiments. I really enjoyed tasting the ethnic eats available in Boston and on one particular visit Prof. Hubs, his roommate, and I all visited a Korean market in Cambridge in search of some foodie finds. In addition to several giant jars of Kimchee I picked up a beautiful bag of Korean sweet brown rice. At the time I thought I was buying short grain brown rice (my fave) because I did not read (nor do I now read) Korean. Much to my dismay when I prepared the rice (washed it 3 times, cooked it 1:2 parts water) I ended up with a sticky, glutinous 'porridge.' That's when I set to googling and learned the Brown sweet rice is actually brown STICKY rice, used for desserts, etc. This bag of rice has sat in my pantry for a few months untouched. Then a couple of days ago I was struck with a possible use for the rice which produced a PHENOMENAL culinary success.

Now, think for a moment. What is one of the yummiest fall side dishes of all? Butternut squash risotto, of course! And what's the problem with typical risotto? It's made with WHITE rice (Arborio, etc.) How can one enjoy a perfect fall risotto but not sacrifice whole grain goodness??? BROWN SWEET RICE to the rescue!!!

One caveat to this substitution-brown rice takes about twice the amount of time to cook as does it's white cousin. However, this rice is so naturally glutinous you can easily let it cook, covered, and unattended for bits at a time between the stirring. So I think this makes up for the extra 25 minutes...

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO WITH BROWN RICE

cooked insides of 1 butternut squash (halved and roasted for an hour so that the 'meat' is soft, then scooped out of the skin)

1 cup brown sweet rice

up to a container of low-sodium chicken broth

up to 1/2 bottle of dry white wine

1 shallot, minced

olive oil

s&p

lots of parmegiano reggiano, for serving.

First, rinse your sweet rice in water 3 times. This helps reduce the stickiness. You may also soak it for several hours or overnight. Dry rice grains (just make sure there's no extra water hanging out with those grains when you're ready to start cooking.)

In a large saucepan, heat oil over med-high heat. Sauté shallots in the oil until soft and translucent. Then add rice. Stir rice around in shallot/oil mixture for about 3 minutes. Then add 3/4 cup broth and 3/4 cup wine. At this point you can hang out with the rice and stir, or you can cover the pot and go watch a few minutes of tv. When the rice has absorbed most of the broth and wine, add another 1/2 cup of each and give it some nice stirs. At this point you may cover again for a few minutes until the broth and wine are absorbed. Basically, just repeat this procedure until the rice reaches the correct al dente texture. For me this took about 45 minutes. When that texture is reached (or about to be reached) add your squash, stir around. Add s&p. Remove from heat. Add parm. to taste and ENJOY!!!

Next time I'll share with you my sweet potato whole wheat gnocchi :)