Because I need more projects.....

I was roving around work the other day and was struck with an idea. At work, we call walking 'roving' so it sounds purposeful. I often choose to rove in the 'cooking and entertaining' section of our library. I was putting cookbooks on display in that area when I grabbed this book:

 

How to Cook Everything (Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition:) 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food

By Mark Bittman

Bob and I received a copy of this book for Christmas 2008 from my mother. Aside from last summer, we haven't really used this book. Last summer, when we were participating in our CSA, we received produce that we had no idea how to prepare, and this book came in hardy - yet I don't think we have discovered its full potential yet.

While flipping through this book, I came up with the idea of doing my own Julie/Julia project, but more appropriately named the Elizabeth/Mark project. Also, I'll be making everything gluten free.

Tonight, I made the first recipe in this 1,065 page book: Five Minute Drizzle Sauce.

Heat 4T of oil in a sauce pan. Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and sauté. Add 2T of water and 2T of lemon juice. I then chose to add fresh herbs from our window box garden. I minced parsley, chives, thyme, and basil.

I then drizzled this over steamed rice. Bob and I keep a mixture of rices on hand. I buy whatever kind of rice is on sale at the store, add that bag to the container in our pantry, and then shake the container to mix it all up. I grew up on instant microwave rice and rice made in a rice maker, so when I moved out on my own I purchased a rice maker, because that is what I knew. However, I don't like having too many kitchen appliances around, so when Bob and I moved, we decided to get rid of my old, cheap, small rice maker, and instead we decided to learn how to cook rice on the stove top. Frankly, I was surprised at how easy it was.

I'll be honest, I should have looked up Mark Bittman's rice recipe to fit with the theme of this post, but I already had the rice cooking before I decided to make a sauce from the book.

Here is the recipe I use to make rice:

1. Put rice in a pot with a lid. Add water. Use the ratio of 1.5 cups water to 1 cup rice.  
2. Set the heat to high, and bring the pot to a boil uncovered.  Then put the lid on the pot, and reduce the heat to low. Let the rice simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, and let the rice sit in the covered pot for another 10 minutes.