About
Do we hear wedding bells? Even if there's no reception yet, Western Wedding Rice is a celebration of flavor all on its own! Notes of bright orange, rich tomatoes, fragrant bacon, and succulent chicken all infuse into the rice, making each bite a perfect match for your taste buds! Add in spicy chorizo and slivered almonds and Western Wedding Rice is ready to tear up the dance floor! You'll definitely say "I do" to wanting seconds!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 1 pound ripe tomatoes
- 1/4 large white onion
- 2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 6 ounces thick-sliced bacon, diced
- 6 ounces Mexican chorizo, casings removed, coarsely chopped
- 2 cups white rice
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely crushed
- 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 cup peas, fresh or thawed if frozen
- 1 cup corn kernels, fresh or thawed if frozen
- 2/3 cup almonds, slivered
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- fresh chives, optional, to taste, for garnish
Directions
Step 1 -In a bowl, add the raisins and the orange juice and allow the raisins to soak for 15-30 minutes. Set the raisin mixture aside.
Step 2 -Preheat the broiler.
Step 3 -On a baking sheet, add the tomatoes, the onion, and the garlic cloves.
Step 4 -Broil, while flipping them occasionally, until charred and softened, about 10 minutes.
Step 5 -Transfer the tomato mixture from the oven and allow it to cool until safe to handle.
Step 6 -Peel the garlic cloves.
Step 7 -Add the tomatoes, the onion, and the peeled garlic to a blender and cover the blender.
Step 8 -Purée the tomato mixture until it becomes a completely smooth tomato purée.
Step 9 -In a large skillet or wok-style pan over medium-high heat, add the bacon pieces and cook, while stirring occasionally, until browned and crispy, about 3-4 minutes.
Step 10 -Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon pieces to a bowl, reserving the bacon drippings in the skillet.
Step 11 -In the hot bacon drippings in the same skillet, add the chorizo and cook, while crumbling, until browned and crispy, about 3-4 minutes.
Step 12 -Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chorizo to a bowl, reserving all the drippings in the pan.
Step 13 -In the hot drippings in the same skillet, add the rice and cook, while stirring often, until the rice changes color to a deep white and the grains feel and sound heavier, about 2-3 minutes.
Step 14 -Make a space in the middle of the rice.
Step 15 -Add the crushed cumin seeds to the space in the middle of the rice and cook, while stirring the cumin seeds into the rice, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Step 16 -Add the tomato purée to the rice mixture and cook, while mixing well, until the rice mixture darkens in color and the rice completely absorbs the purée.
Step 17 -Add the chicken broth, the raisin mixture including the juices the raisins soaked in, the carrots, the peas, the corn, the almonds, the sea salt, and the black pepper to the rice mixture and stir well to combine.
Step 18 -Allow the rice mixture to come to a rolling boil.
Step 19 -Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to low.
Step 20 -Cook until the rice is completely cooked and all of the liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.
Step 21 -Add the bacon and the chorizo to the rice mixture and stir to combine.
Step 22 -Serve garnished with the chives.
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