Book 120 | Martha Stewart Living: Annual Recipes 2003 | Pomegranate Pilaf

by the editors of Martha Stewart Living

What a colorful (the photo doesn't do the colors justice) and festive side-dish to grace any holiday table; or spruce up a weeknight meal, for this was a cinch to make!

To make this lovely pilaf, red onion is sautéed in a small amount of butter until softened. Rice is added and stirred until the grains have been covered in butter, at which time chicken broth is added and brought to a boil, the pan is covered, and the heat is set to low, and the rice is cooked for about twenty minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Once the rice is cooked, and has been fluffed with a fork, apricots, almonds, pomegranate arils, thyme, salt, and pepper are added and combined; and voilà! You have one beautiful pilaf.


 

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Book 108: Autumn Gatherings

by Rick Rogers

Wow! This was easy and delicious! What more could one ask for?

This would be perfect for company. It takes hardly any time at all to throw together. I made the sauce while the rice was cooking, and the salmon roasted for maybe 20 minutes. I always buy the Coho salmon - it's thinner, which equates to a shorter cooking time, and I think it has a better flavor.

Whenever I have to make a reduction of any kind, it always takes way longer than stated in the recipe. Not sure what it is that I am doing wrong. Maybe I don't cook it at a high enough temperature, worried that I may burn it. I also don't have one of those fancy pans with sloped sides that are made for sauce reductions.

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The instructions for this sauce says to reduce the liquid to two tablespoons, about 6 minutes - it took longer as usual. I can't tell you how long, for I did not pay attention to the time. But that's OK. It was ready in plenty of time - even if it wasn't, it would have been worth the wait. This sauce in my opinion, is to die for. I kept going back for more, I just could not get enough of it.

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You may be thinking that this looks like a really small piece of salmon. I had purchased three-quarters of a pound for the two of us, and received a call from our daughter that she would be stopping by, and I had asked her to stay for dinner. She offered to stop and pick up some more fish, and I said we would make do - and we did - it turned out to be the perfect amount.

According to the American Heart Association, a serving of fish is two to three ounces.