Pilaf with mushrooms
Description
The other day I dreamt of an Uzbek with a dagger and a cauldron. Steam was rising in thick clouds, a lamb carcass hung on the wall, and the Uzbek grinned at me with all his golden teeth (well, not all—just a third that remained). I was terrified! I flipped through every dream dictionary I could find—no mention of Uzbeks! Clearly, Uzbeks don’t appear in dreams for no reason, I decided. So, catching sight of a plump little rice bag idling in the cupboard, I resolved to cook plov. Or rather, a pseudo-plov. Let me explain. Traditional plov, as we know, is a meaty, extremely fatty dish—delicious, of course, but not exactly summer-friendly (not ideal during bikini season and when wearing those tiny, tight little dresses!). So my plov will be meat-free. Forgive me, dream Uzbek! I hope you won’t come seeking revenge in my next nightmare. Anyway, to compensate for the lack of meat, I’ll add mushrooms. Although, to be honest, these mushrooms are also “pseudo.” I mean, button mushrooms! To me, real mushrooms are chanterelles or porcini; button mushrooms are just a frivolity. Though they cook quickly and can even be eaten raw. And a gazpacho made from fresh button mushrooms, drizzled with lemon and sprinkled with pepper, is simply divine! Right, back to the plov. So, my mushroom plov is very simple, quick, and easy to prepare—and importantly, costs next to nothing (or a few euro cents, if you prefer). Even a beginner will likely find this plov recipe quite straightforward. I buy my mushrooms straight from the warehouse where they’re grown (a warehouse that, like a giant mushroom, sprouted up along the road to my dacha last year). There, the mushrooms are pinkish-white, fragrant, and juicy! Long story short, I ate half of them before even getting home. The remaining half I sliced and placed in a frying pan with olive oil to simmer. Most people cook rice by dropping it into boiling water (two cups of water per one cup of rice). But I rinse the rice and immediately plunge it into cold salted water. Seems faster to me. Once the water with rice comes to a boil, I stir it a few times and reduce the heat to medium. About 12–14 minutes and it’s done! While the rice is cooking and the mushrooms are simmering, we’ll peel, wash, and chop the carrots and onion. It’s great if a food processor does this for you! If not, dice the onion into small cubes and slice the carrots into quarter-rings (what a mouthful!). Add the chopped vegetables to the mushrooms, which should have released most of their moisture by now. But first, pour a little more olive or other vegetable oil into the pan, season with salt and pepper, and add a couple pinches of bright, spicy paprika. Sauté briefly, stirring with a wooden spatula. The spices should warm up and "awaken," letting their flavors mingle. Then add the onion and carrots. Fry until the onion turns translucent and the carrots begin to brown. By this time, the rice should be ready. Ideally, it should be slightly firm, al dente, as the Italians would say about pasta. Add the rice to the sautéed vegetables, gently mix everything together, and fry for a few more minutes. On average, preparing this super-simple mushroom plov should take you about half an hour to forty minutes. And that’s it—you now know how.