Much Better Rice

Rice is very hypoallergenic. Ergo, it is a staple of our diet. My view of rice was transformed by a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey in one of her Indian cookbooks. She included spices and tomatoes in her rice. I can highly recommend any of her books!

Plain White or Brown Rice (based on "A Perfect Batch of Rice" by Craig Claiborne published in the NYT a gazillion years ago.

Ingredients
Rice
1/2 an onion (more if you are making for 6 or more people)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can cheap beer. No using the good stuff! It needs to be a rice based beer like Bud or Coors.
1 cube chicken or vegetable bullion

• Measure out enough rice for however many people you are serving.
• Rinse in warm water three times. Drain it as well as you can. This will remove talc or other more unsavory bits included in the rice
• Chop the onion as fine as you can
• Saute the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent
• Add rice and cook in oil for a few moments
• Add bullion cube
• Add beer until it covers rice to the depth of the first knuckle on your thumb
• Turn heat to high and bring to boil
• After it boils, turn to low and cook without stirring until all water is absorbed

Variations
all spices should be added to a dry pot and cooked over medium until you can just smell them. Ergo, don't make in a Teflon skillet (especially if you have birds around)

• Add a cinnamon stick and whole cloves for Indian dishes. Oh and use jasmine rice
• Add mint and a bit of cumin for use with Middle Eastern dishes