Arroz Verde (Green Rice)

From The Essential Cuisines of Mexico - p. 163

With plenty of meat, sauce and tortillas leftover from last night's meal, I thought today I'd make a tasty side dish to accompany round two of Enchiladas Placeras. In the Beans, Rice, and Pasta section of Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, I found this recipe, dog-eared, in the copy I'm borrowing from the library. Well, perfect! Arroz Verde sounds great.

At my restaurant, we have a version of green rice, but it is different from this recipe. The "green" in our rice comes from Anaheim or Hatch green chiles (when available), not poblanos, and uses a veggie base instead of chicken stock. I'm curious to see how the taste of Kennedy's rice compares with that of my restaurant and other variations I've tried.

Ingredients:
White rice
Vegetable oil
Flat-leaf parsley
Cilantro
Romaine lettuce
Poblano chiles
White onion
Garlic clove
Chicken broth
Salt

Process:
1. First, heat up some water use it to soak the uncooked rice for about 5 mins. Drain, rinse, drain some more.
2. Fry rice in hot oil until it turns a pale golden color. Drain off excess oil.

3. Blend all the green ingredients, onion and garlic in a blender with a bit of water.

4. Add the green mixture to the rice; fry on high heat until rice is almost dry. Add chicken broth and salt, cook on medium for about 15 mins until liquid is absorbed.
5. Cover pan and continue cooking 5 mins. Remove from heat; cover with terry cloth to steam for another 20-30 mins.

Results:

Amazing!! The texture of the rice after steaming under a cloth (I used a standard kitchen towel) was absolutely perfect. All those strong green flavors simmer down a bit, and just make for a lovely flavor. I'm no expert, but this is some of the best rice I've ever had. And now my apartment smells like a fresh, green garden.

BTW, Arroz Verde pairs perfectly with Enchiladas Placeras and a nice glass of sangria.

Buen apetito!

-Little Chef TX