RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Mimi Hiller Rice Pilav with Lemon Cream Sauce - dairy
10 cups water 4 cups raw converted rice 1 cup milk 2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter 1/4 cup flour 3 egg yolks 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/2 pound kefalotiri or Parmesan cheese, grated 1.Put 9 cups of water into a large pot and bring to a boil. 2.Add rice and stir with a fork. 3.Cover and cook until fluffy and soft. 4.While rice cooks, heat remaining cup of broth and the milk. 5.Melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan, add flour, and blend well. 6.Slowly add hot broth and milk. 7.Cook over low heat until sauce thickens, stirring constantly to prevent lumping or burning. 8.Remove from heat. 9.Beat egg yolks with lemon juice and slowly add to the sauce, stirring constantly. 10.Return to the heat, and stir until thickened. 11.Remove from heat, and add half the grated cheese. 12.In a small saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter until lightly browned. 13.Pour over rice. 14.Pack rice in a 10-inch mold and turn onto a platter. 15.Pour hot sauce over rice. 16.Sprinkle with remaining cheese. 17.Serve hot. Serves 10 to 15. Notes: I used white basmati rice, and it had that heavenly flavor you don't get from plain white rice. I used 1% milk (because that's what we have in this house) and sweet (unsalted) butter. I was in a hurry, so I didn't measure the lemon juice. I used the juice of one small lemon, whatever that amounted to. And I used the kefalotiri (from the Middle Eastern market). This is a hard, ripe cheese...and though the recipe claims you can substitute Parmesan, I wouldn't. If you can't get kefalotiri, use some good Romano Peccorino cheese. Unfortunately, as I said, I was in a hurry and didn't read the directions carefully. I ended up dumping all the cheese into the sauce instead of using half as a garnish. Something to consider for next time, I guess. Lastly, I halved the recipe, using 2 egg yolks, and it was perfect. Archivist's note: "Rice is one of the three standard grains of Sephardic cooking and by far the most popular and widespread. The other two are bulgar and couscous, both forms of wheat. Rice dishes were brought from Spain into the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Egypt. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Lybia are the only countries settled by sephardic Jews where another grain, couscous, was more important than rice. In these countries as well, rice was prepared by Jewish cooks. The favorite method of cooking rice in the Sephardic kitchen is a pilav." Rabbi Robert Sternberg "The Sephardic Kitchen"
