Mexican Rice

Prepared 5-10-09

I guess it takes a Mexican to know how real Mexican rice should taste like. This past weekend I prepared Enchiladas Verdes and Mexican Rice for my sisters for Mother's Day. Well I thought I'd follow the rice recipe from cooksillustrated.com, the companion website to America's Test Kitchen. They claim to test thousands of recipes so you don't have to. Well, I've got to say they got it wrong this time.

The rice was colorless and with not enough of the tomato/garlic flavor that is so distinct in authentic Mexican rice. Another thing I didn't like was that the recipe asked for the rice to cook in the oven and when you are trying to make enchiladas at the same time, it's a hassle to have something using up the oven space. So that's the rice I served and I wasn't totally thrilled with the results.

That is why the following day I set out to come up with something that combined elements that I liked from the America's Test Kitchen recipe and from one I found in a Bon Appetit magazine I had kept from many years ago.

Using canned whole tomatoes yields more tomato flavor and gives the rice a great orange color, just like it should be. Also, using chicken broth (I strongly recommend you use Swanson Certified Organic Free Range Chicken Broth) instead of water gives the rice a more complex taste.

Since I have a big family I prepare the recipe as it is shown above. If you want to serve 4-6 people (as a side dish) go ahead and just halve all the ingredients.