I was delighted to attend a community potluck dinner. The cost of entry was a dish “inspired by the season.” Someone brought a variation of this recipe; the textures left me wanting more and in the following days I obsessively craved this dish. After thinking about it, I reached out to the woman who brought it to dinner. I told her just how much I enjoyed her salad with the crunch of wild rice and pecans and I asked if she might share the recipe.
Thinking toward pecan season, I contacted her again to ask permission to share it with the Edible Phoenix community. She had received the recipe from a friend and that woman told us it came from The Silver Palate Cookbook, one of my personal, perennial favorites.
The absolute definition of community and shared here with permission.
Preparation
Excerpted from The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins (Workman Publishing © 2007).
Yield: 6 portions
1 cup (½ pound) raw wild rice
5½ cups defatted chicken stock or water
1 cup shelled pecan halves
1 cup golden raisins
Grated zest of 1 large orange
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
4 scallions, well rinsed and thinly sliced
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
1½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Put rice in strainer, rinse thoroughly with cold water.
Place rice in medium-size heavy saucepan, add stock or water and bring to rapid boil. Adjust heat to gentle simmer and cook about 45 minutes total, checking for doneness after 30 minutes. Line colander with thin towel and turn rice into colander to drain. Transfer to bowl.
Add remaining ingredients and toss gently. Adjust seasonings and allow to stand for 2 hours for flavors to develop.
Serve at room temperature.
