[MR. BMJ]

Ojibway Wild Rice Pilaf with Cranberries and Pecans

True Wild Rice is actually a grass, not a rice... Ojibway harvest the most in Upper Michigan and some gets to the states via canada and the Menomini and Cree Nations. There are a couple of sites online where you can order bulk wild rice and benefit the tribes directly, Native Harvest is one. They pick hella cranberries up there in the marshes too... yum!
SO... in keeping with my love of Native Foods and flavors, cranberries and wild rice and such, here ya go:

Ojibway Pilaf with Cranberries and Pecans
this is for 16 portions, please portion and freeze all that you wont use in a period of three days, m'kay?


The macros for the following recipe look like this per portion:
196 kcal
5 g pro
28 cho (5g fiber)
9 g fat (1g sat)

1 1/3 cup Wild Rice
1 1/3 cup Quinoa
1 cup pecan 'bits', toasted
1 cup dried cranberries
2 bunches scallions, THIN sliced
3/4 cup Flatleaf Parsley, coarse chop
3 tbs EV Olive Oil (i use oil from garlic confit, ask me i'll explain if you want)
3 tbs Green Cider Vinegar, unfiltered if you can find it.
ground malabar pepper...


Method:

this is real easy, crazy easy, really. just read all the way through it, if you dont grasp any part of any recipe i post ASK ME, it makes me feel like big willie. NOTE: when cooking any grain, i cook it in stock, chicken stock, turkey stock, duck stock, beef stock, fish, lobster, vege, mushroom, etc... negligible cals and it gives life that little twang that make things greater than the sum of their parts, ya know? ok, that having been said, here goes:

cover the wild rice in a deep sauce pot with about two inches of stock over the depth of the rice, it may take a bit more later, so keep that in your noggin. bring back to a boil and then lower to simmer for about 40 minutes, please dont just let this boil, the rice is delicate and needs to be coaxed into the love mode or you will burst the 'jackets' off of the rice and it will lose its crunchyness. so, SIMMER the rice. when done, drain the stock, reserve, let the rice cool.

Toast the quinoa in a pot until it starts to to hop and dance a bit, you will know what i mean when you see it happen... er.. kind of... anyway, i digress. Toast the quinoa, shaking frequently so it doesnt burn then pull off the fire and let cool a bit, shaking. Now WATCH OUT! when adding the stock, this quinoa is hotter than magma right now and will boil over if you just douse it with stock, add the stock a little at a time, let it sputter, add more, sputter. lather rince repeat. use the leftover rice stock for this, you will need more to the tune of about two inches depth above grain level. Make sure these are both seasoned well, stock should be slightly less salty than the sea for these both. Once done, about a half hour, maybe 25 minutes, toss in the dry cranberries and let sit for three minutes off the fire, drain, discard stock and let cool.

Next step is tough. Combine all ingredients. You're done. This is better served a tiny bit warm, NOT hot, not cold. For some reason the essential sexiness of wild rice gets lost in the cold, so warm it up just a little before you eat it.

questions? ask the chef. if it's broken, we can fix it, always.