Wild Rice and Black Trumpets

My Mother in law from Minnesota makes great wild rice! Might have something do to with the fact that she adds her two favorite ingredients in copious amount right at the end (butter and salt). One thing I wont do is change family recipes! So I too will do the same at the end, and add just a few mushroom centric ingredients. Black trumpets, sage, and corn.

Wild Rice is one thing in this country that is a misnomer, even to the gourmands. There is not a store in NYC that sells real wild rice. They sell cultivated Canadian "Wild Rice" that is not similiar. The difference is not only in the flavor, the texture, but in the processing as well. 

The rice has a pronounced lake flavor. Sometimes it can be strong and overpowering. Most often it has a pleasant sweetness, with roasted notes. 

Its texture is really different than the black Canadian Rice. It is very fluffy and tender, taking much less cooking time of 15-20 minutes.

Real wild rice is finished with a traditional technique call parching. This process involves tossing the rice in a metal drum over a wood fire. The chaff (outside husk) is blown away leaving the lighter colored rice.  The grains are definitely not uniform, and sometimes at a cheaper rate for broken rice. I boil the rice with salt and chicken stock as Grandma Marilyn would do, and then steam it in the oven with onions, butter, and more salt.  

Wild Rice with Trumpets, Corn and Sage

1 Cup wild rice

Chicken stock

1 small diced onion

4 TB butter

1/2 cup Sauteed Trumpet mushrooms

1 Cup cooked sweet corn

10 fresh sage leaves chopped

1. Rinse rice in several changes of water

2. Cook covered in chicken stock until fluffy (15-20 minutes) and drain if necessary

3. In a small pan, melt butter and cooked diced onion slowly until translucent

4. Combine with remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper, and place in a butter casserole dish.

5. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 10 minutes