Best Carolina Red Rice Recipes

CHARLESTON RED RICE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish; set aside.
• In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 7-8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving the drippings in the pan. Melt butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until the onion softens, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste, kosher salt, sugar and pepper. Cook for 1 more minute.
• Add the bacon, water and rice. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced slightly, about 8-10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet as you stir.
• Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Cover and bake until the rice is tender, about 40-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
• Fluff the rice, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve.

CHARLESTON RED RICE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
• Bring the rice, water, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.
• While the rice is cooking, cook the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Reserve about 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings in the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Drain the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels; crumble the bacon once cooled enough to handle.
• Cook and stir the onions in the reserved bacon drippings until translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the crumbled bacon, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce; bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon the cooked rice into the prepared baking dish and stir the tomato-bacon mixture into the rice until evenly combined.
• Cover the dish and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

GULLAH RED RICE

Steps:

• Rinse the rice until the water becomes slightly clear. (This removes the starch.)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onion and pepper and cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften and start to brown at the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, sugar, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir rice into the tomato mixture and cook, uncovered, and stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread into an even layer. Add just enough water to cover the rice (about 2 cups). Tightly cover with a lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes without uncovering the baking dish. Turn off the oven, remove the rice, fluff the rice, then cover and return to oven for 10 minutes more.

CHIPOTLE CHICKEN & RICE

Steps:

• Step 1 Season chicken with chili powder and salt. Step 2 In large Dutch oven or saucepan set over medium heat, heat 2 tbsp oil. In batches to avoid crowding, add chicken and cook, turning, for 5 to 7 minutes or until starting to brown all over, adding more oil as needed. Using slotted spoon, transfer to plate as chicken is browned. Step 3 Add onion and garlic to oil in Dutch oven set over medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until starting to soften. Stir in rice, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until well coated. Step 4 Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Stir in lime juice. Return chicken to Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring frequently, for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Step 5 Before serving, fluff rice mixture with fork and garnish with cilantro. Recipe Tips: Add 1 cup frozen vegetable medley - such as peas, corn and carrots - in the last 10 minutes of cooking if desired. For a zesty addition, add 1/2 cup sliced green olives or 1/4 cup drained capers with the lime juice in Step 4.

CAROLINA RED RICE

Steps:

• Brown sausage, then add onion and peppers and stir-fry 2-3 minutes.
• Add rest of ingredients plus 2 cups water; stir well, cover and cook over low heat until rice is done and liquid absorbed.

CAROLINA GOLD RICE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sizzling hot (see Know-how, page 100). Add the shallot and cook and stir for about 2 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the rice, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir to coat with oil and butter. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the thyme and just enough broth to cover the rice by about 1/4 inch, stirring just once to combine.
• Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.
• Often called the grandfather of long-grain rice in the Americas, Carolina Gold is a beautiful variety that was the star of the antebellum rice trade and a driving force in the creation of a distinct Southern culinary tradition. Despite these claims to fame, Carolina Gold fell by the wayside after the Civil War, along with the South's rice economy. It was half forgotten and nearly extinct by the time Richard Schulz, a Georgia surgeon and plantation owner, rehabilitated the grain in the 1980s. Thanks to his efforts, it is now once again commercially available from vendors like South Carolina's Carolina Plantation Rice and Anson Mills (see Sources, page 377).

GULLAH RED RICE

Steps:

• Place bacon in a pot and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Add bell pepper and onion to bacon grease and saute over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add sausage and cook and stir until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove mixture from the pan to a bowl.
• Pour tomato sauce and tomato paste into the same pot, along with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil; add rice, sugar, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Bring back to a boil; reduce heat and let simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Transfer the rice mixture to a 9x13-inch baking pan. Cover with foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until liquid has evaporated and rice is tender, about 25 minutes.