Senator Al Frankens Wild Rice Stuffing Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the wild rice with 4 1/2 cups stock or water in one saucepan and the brown rice with 1 1/2 cups stock or water in another smaller saucepan. Add salt to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer the brown rice for 35 to 40 minutes, until the rice is tender and all of the liquid has been absorbed. Turn off the heat, place a clean kitchen towel over the pot and return the lid. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Simmer the wild rice for 40 to 50 minutes, until the grains have begun to splay. Drain through a strainer if there is liquid in the pot, and return to the pot. Place a clean kitchen towel over the pot and return the lid. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
• While the grains are cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the celery and a generous pinch of salt, and continue to cook until the onion is completely tender, another 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook, stirring, until it is fragrant, another 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add the cooked grains and stir together.
• Return the skillet to the stove and heat over medium-high heat. Add the butter, and when the foam subsides add the apples. Cook, stirring or tossing in the pan, until lightly colored, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl with the grains. Add the remaining ingredients and stir together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a lightly oiled or buttered baking dish and cover with foil.
• Warm the stuffing in a 325-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Remove liver from giblets if desired. Place giblets and water in a saucepan. Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until tender. , Meanwhile, prepare rice according to package directions. In a small skillet, saute celery and onion in butter; add to rice. Drain and dice giblets. Stir stuffing, broth and giblets into rice., Spoon into an ungreased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

Steps:

• For the stuffing: Combine the wild rice, water, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender and just bursting, about 30 minutes. (Times may very depending on the brand of rice used.) Drain and set aside.
• Adjust an oven rack to lowest position and remove other racks. Preheat to 325 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, apple, celery, garlic, thyme, mace, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and cook until it loses most of its rosy color, but not so much that it's dry, about 5 minutes more. Stir in the cooked wild rice, pecans, and parsley into the vegetable mixture. (This can be made the day before.)
• For the turkey: Remove turkey parts from neck and breast cavities and reserve for other uses, if desired. Dry bird well with paper towels, inside and out. Melt the butter together with the poultry seasoning. Salt and pepper inside the bird cavity. Loosely add the stuffing to the cavity and set the bird on a rack in a roasting pan, breast-side up, and brush generously with the seasoned butter, then season with salt and pepper. Tent the top of the bird with foil.
• Roast the turkey for about 2 hours undisturbed. Remove and discard the foil. Baste with the remaining butter. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F and continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, about 20 to 25 minutes more. Remove turkey from oven and tent with foil for 15 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Cook the rice, drain and set it aside to cool.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Butter a baking dish with two tablespoons of the butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the fillets close together in one layer on the baking dish.
• Melt two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and add the onion and celery. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is wilted. Add the oysters and cook about 10 seconds. Add the scallions and cook about 10 seconds. Add the cooked rice, one-half cup bread crumbs, cream and egg. Bring to the boil, stirring. Add the cayenne, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Melt the remaining two tablespoons butter and brush the top of each fish fillet. Spoon equal portions of the wild-rice mixture on top of each fillet. Smooth the mixture almost but not quite to the edges of each fillet.
• Sprinkle the top of the fillets with equal portions of the remaining two tablespoons bread crumb and the cheese. Place in the oven and bake seven to 10 minutes. To provide a better glaze, run the dish under the broiler for a minute or less. Combine the melted butter and lemon juice and pour over the fillets when served.

Steps:

• Place wild rice in a saucepan and pour over just enough boiling water to cover. Set aside, covered, for one hour. Drain rice. Add fresh boiling water to cover by half an inch, and the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until rice is soft but not mushy, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well, discard bay leaf, and set aside.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-quart gratin dish or a 9x13 baking dish if not stuffing into a turkey.
• Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and gently cook the onions until soft, about 7 minutes. Remove skins from sausages and add sausage meat to the pan with the onions. Raise the heat to medium-high and cook, crumbling the sausage with a fork, until it is browned. Remove from the heat and stir in the wild rice.
• Rinse cranberries, picking them over and discarding any that are spoiled. Chop them roughly or process them briefly in a food processor. Add to the sausage-rice mixture and mix well. Add salt, pepper and sage if using and stir to combine. Taste for seasoning.
• Either stuff into a turkey or pour into the prepared dish. Cut the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and dot the top. Cover the dish with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Bring stock to a boil in a large saucepan, then add wild rice and salt to taste. When the liquid returns to the boil, lower heat, cover and simmer 40 minutes, until rice is tender and has begun to splay. Drain through a strainer, and set aside.
• Heat oil over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet, then add onion or shallots. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about five minutes for onions or three minutes for shallots. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic. Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add mushrooms and celery and cook, stirring, until mushrooms have softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in rice and remaining ingredients. Cook, stirring, until sherry has evaporated. Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Remove from the heat, and allow to cool before stuffing your turkey. Or place in an oiled baking dish and cover, then warm for 20 to 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven.

Steps:

• Combine broth, rice, 1 cup water and fennel seeds in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until rice is tender, stirring occasionally, about 55 minutes. Drain.
• Sauté sausage in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to paper towels and drain. Add chopped fennel bulbs and onions to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until vegetables are golden, about 10 minutes. Add rice and sausage to skillet. Sauté until heated through, about 3 minutes. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. If serving as side dish, rewarm covered in 350°F. oven for 20 minutes.) Transfer to bowl and serve. If using as stuffing, cool completely and fill bird.

Steps:

• In a heavy nonstick saucepan, add cooked wild rice, hazelnuts, blueberries, cranberries, and maple syrup and cook over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Add heavy cream and heat through, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Steps:

• Place dried porcinis in a bowl and cover with 2 quarts boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Line a strainer with cheesecloth, place over a bowl and drain the porcinis. Gather them up in the cheesecloth and squeeze hard to extract all the liquid. Rinse in two changes water, squeeze out excess water over the strainer, chop coarsely and set aside.
• Transfer mushroom broth to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add wild rice and salt to taste. When liquid returns to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer 35 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small dry skillet toast quinoa over medium until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. After rice has simmered for 35 minutes add toasted quinoa and continue to simmer another 12 minutes, until rice is tender and has begun to splay and the quinoa is just tender. Drain through a strainer set over a bowl and set aside. Reserve broth.
• Return rice and quinoa to pot, cover pot with a dish towel and place lid over towel. Let sit for at least 10 minutes while you proceed with next step. (Recipe can be made through this step up to 3 days ahead.)
• Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the greens in batches, stirring to wilt in the water left on their leaves after washing. Add a generous pinch of salt and continue to stir until all of the greens have wilted. This should only take a few minutes. Transfer to a colander and rinse with cold water to cool. Take up handfuls of the greens and squeeze hard to get rid of excess water. Chop medium-fine and set aside. You should have 1 generous cup.
• Rinse and dry pan, and heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 3 minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic. Cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute, and add celery. Cook, stirring often, until celery begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes, and add fresh and rehydrated mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms begin to sweat, about 3 minutes. Add white wine and cook, stirring, until wine has evaporated. Add salt to taste, thyme and sage, and continue to cook until mushrooms are tender and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add pepper, taste and adjust seasoning.
• Stir in cooked rice and quinoa, greens, parsley, walnuts and walnut oil. Stir together for a minute or two to blend well, and remove from heat.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 2 1/2- to 3-quart baking dish. Transfer the pilaf to the baking dish and spread evenly. Moisten with 1/4 to 1/2 cup preserved broth from grains, and cover with foil. Warm in the oven for 20 minutes before serving.