Wild Imaginations (pix heavy)

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

15 years ago

I was told, to Native Americans, wild rice is a sacred gift. And,

DO IT RIGHT OR DON'T DO IT!

This is my attempt to imagine up something that's meaningful and possibly tasty.

The first thing I decided that the rice should not be a side dish. It is going to play the leading role.

That ruled out making a sea scallop, steak, whole chick, fish ------- dish.

Since rice has the ability to incorporate other flavors, it occurred to me that the accompanying ingredients must have something to contribute to the rice.

I decided to have mussels, bay scallops, and bacon to accompany the rice.

Basically, the rice was simmered with juices from the mussels and scallops, than flavored with bacon drippings. No water was used. I was also lucky that the sweetness of the black garlic and texture worked very well as a backdrop for the earthy flavor of the wild rice. Some mushrooms and onions were added and other minor seasonings.

I was extremely lucky that the rice was cooked to perfection even I wasn't sure how much liquid (scallop and mussel juice) should have been used. It was not mushy and not tough. Each grain was savored distinctly.

The plating subtly and abstractly recalls some Native American symbolism and motifs of the hawk and the circle of life.

Some extra rice was used to indulge in a little seasonal fun with a butternut squash and cauliflower. I know what you are thinking. The rice does look like maggots. In real life it really doesn't. That's the way it photographs.

Happy Halloween to everyone, especially to you, Teresa_mn. This is a gift that's more than a gift.

I urge you all to try and to learn about real wild rice, not the so-called wild rice in the stores. I assure you it will be worth your while.

dcarch

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Comments (23)

foodonastump
15 years ago
dcarch - I LOVE the skeleton! That is genious. Cauliflower brains to match.

Question - Seems to me a long time ago I read that wild rice isn't really rice. Is that true?
BeverlyAL
15 years ago
Very creative Dcarch, although the wild rice looks a little too much like worms for my taste.

You obviously have very little to do so I think you should come down here and let me put you to work.
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Thanks everyone. Wild rice, especially real wild rice, is such a special ingredient. I have been interested in exploring all its epicurean possibilities. Although it is not technically "rice", I was curious if you could puff it, and what kind of mouth feel you would get if it's puffed. I soaked the wild rice in super concentrated beef stock overnight. The rice was cooked, and then dehydrated completely in my dehydrator. After I deep fried the pork lion, I fried the rice. The rice puffed up very quickly and nicely. It was like Rice Crispy except airier and lighter. The puffed rice complemented well with the deep fried pork dish. And it's crispy chew contrasted nicely in the soup. It tasted so good that I made a couple more dishes with it. Once more, thank you Teresa. dcarch
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caliloo
15 years ago
Great job with the carving... and this is what it brought to "mind". Rather timely with the upcoming holiday! LOLOLOL!

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: Maggots Micheal, you're eating maggots.
jimster
15 years ago
darch,

You certainly did justice to a very special gift. Only recently did I learn that Teresa is of Native American heritage. I can't taste that dish but I'm sure it was good. I can see it however and the plating is wonderful, achieving your stated objective perfectly.

And then there is the squash skull. That made me laugh. The last photo delivered the punch line and made me laugh even harder. How do you think of these things?

Jim
Teresa_MN
15 years ago
dcarch - once again you have come up with amazing pictures. I can't wait to show my coconut loving great nephews the fotos. I'm headed over there later today......and I do have pumkins and a giant butternut squash. Maybe we will need to make a skull - oh wait! I also have the cauliflower brains on hand too! Wow - Earthquake cake and a skull too? I will be the best great aunt ever!

FOAS - wild rice is actually grass seed from the aquatic grass family. Imagine my newly married mom (East coast gal) moving to Minnesota with my father. A couple of years into the marriage my dad returns from up North bringing home bags of the stuff. At the time his older brother owned the family land. He tells my mom how to fix it. She says - that does not look like rice. Dad responds - actually it's a type of grass seed. Mom replies "and you want me to feed that to our toddlers?"

So I grew up eating cooked wild rice for breakfast. It was warmed in milk and then sugar and cinnamon were added. Sometimes we put toasted hazelnuts on the top. Those also grow in abundance in central Minnesota.

I never thought it looked like maggots though. I could never eat cooked raisons though. When I was about 4 my older sister told me they were swollen wood ticks!

Glad you enjoyed it. Funny you mentioned hawk. My great great grandmother's name was Winona Chetan. (first daughter, hawk)
dedtired
15 years ago
Only you, dcarch, only you.
pixistix
15 years ago
mmmm, great pics and the wild rice looks perfectly cooked. I have three reservations surrounding me, so I'm thrilled to have easy access to the 'real deal' wild rice, although there are some applications where I use paddy rice as well.

teresa, I grew up eating warm wild rice with light cream and sugar, too - it was called 'lumberjack's breakfast' in our neck of the woods, LOL. I've never thought the cooked rice looked like maggots either . . . it's such a heavenly treat, the thought never entered my mind!
Teresa_MN
15 years ago
pixistx - where do you live? Minnesota or Wisconsin?

Good to know I'm not alone on the breakfast rice. When I was still working I stopped taking it to work because people thought it was so wierd. And I don't think any of my many siblings still eat it for breakfast.
pixistix
15 years ago
northern MN, teresa . . . surrounded by White Earth, Red Lake and Leech Lake.
claire_de_luna
15 years ago
Your pictures are always a treat, but this last one is my favorite!
Teresa_MN
15 years ago
I figured as much. I threw in Wisconsin not knowing the locations of their reservations. But I am well aware of the three you mention.

The guy selling wild rice at the Farmer's Market today buys from White Earth. The price is outrageous but it is the good stuff and I'm glad the Natives are charging a decent price. He said his markup is only marginal.

I only went ricing once this year when it started in August. My right shoulder started killing me and I was not able to contribute to the harvest. So my share of earning the rice this year will be buying the groceries and doing all the cooking for the upcoming deer hunting trip. Most of my heritage is Finnish. And I know you have a bunch of those up in "your neck of the woods." :-)

Teresa
pixistix
15 years ago
I'm half Finn myself, teresa . . . that's where the 'lumberjack breakfast' came from - my Finnish grandma, who used to cook in a lumberjack camp!

(Sorry to temporarily derail your post, dcarch . . . I guess your pics were just so inspiring!)
Teresa_MN
15 years ago
Well Toivottavast to you! I grew up speaking a little Suomi as that was my father's first language! My great great grandfather Matti Maki came to the US in 1858. His first wife died and then he married Winona Chetan. My surname is Maki also.

Sorry dcarch! But your photos and imagination inspire people to say all kinds of stuff!
lakemayor
15 years ago
dcarch, That is really some skill you have. That is impressive. What an imagination!

Thanks for sharing those pictures.

Karen
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
Original Author
15 years ago
Posted by foodonastump -----Ã¢ÂÂdcarch - I LOVE the skeleton! That is genious. Cauliflower brains to match. Question - Seems to me a long time ago I read that wild rice isn't really rice. Is that true?Ã¢ÂÂ

Thanks FOAS. You are correct. Wild rice is not rice. ItÃ¢ÂÂs dehydrated maggots. :-)

Posted by beverlyal Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½"Ã¢ÂÂ Very creative Dcarch, although the wild rice looks a little too much like worms for my taste. You obviously have very little to do so I think you should come down here and let me put you to work.Ã¢ÂÂ

Thanks beverlyal. ItÃ¢ÂÂs a date. I am coming right down. Make sure your DH is away. :-)

Posted by caliloo Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½"Ã¢ÂÂ Great job with the carving... and this is what it brought to "mind". Rather timely with the upcoming holiday! LOLOLOL! Alexa Here is a link that might be useful: Maggots Micheal, you're eating maggots. Ã¢ÂÂ
Ã¢ÂÂ

Thanks Alexa. I have had deep fried silk worm pupae. Delicious. While tasted nothing like chicken, did taste like scrambled eggs.

Posted by jimster -----Ã¢ÂÂdarch, --- I can see it however and the plating is wonderful, achieving your stated objective perfectly. -----The last photo delivered the punch line and made me laugh even harder. How do you think of these things? JimÃ¢ÂÂ

Thanks Jim. Which last photo you are referring to? I can bearly understand you :-) ( Sorry guys, inside joke)

Posted by teresa_mn Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½" Ã¢ÂÂdcarch - once again you have come up with amazing pictures.----Ã¢ÂÂ
Thanks Teresa. I did consider adding a little coconut cream. I am glad I didnÃ¢ÂÂt.

Posted by dedtired ------Ã¢ÂÂ Only you, dcarch, only you.Ã¢ÂÂ
Thanks dedtired. Yes, I have that LP also, by the Platters. LOL.

Posted by pixistix Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½"Ã¢ÂÂ mmmm, great pics and the wild rice looks perfectly cooked.-----Ã¢ÂÂ
Thanks pixistix. Heavenly treat it is. You can say that again.

Posted by lakemayor ----- Ã¢ÂÂdcarch, That is really some skill you have. That is impressive. What an imagination! Thanks for sharing those pictures. KarenÃ¢ÂÂ

Thanks Karen. And I want to thank all for putting up with my nonsense ideas.

Posted by pixistix Ã¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½" Ã¢ÂÂ--------- (Sorry to temporarily derail your post, dcarch . . . I guess your pics were just so inspiring!)Ã¢ÂÂ

Please continue. I am fascinated with your stories. I am learning a lot.
annie1992
15 years ago
OK, now that's just.....icky. Imaginative, but icky and perfect for Halloween. Love the "brain", LOL

I'm NOT showing it to the Grandkids, I'm definitely not. They'd want me to carve a butternut squash skull but they'd never eat it, they'd want to save it.

As for the maggot resemblance, I wouldn't eat shrimp for years because I thought they looked like grub worms, but I love 'em now, so I'll eat wild rice without a second thought!

Annie
jimster
15 years ago
Annie,

You could learn to love grub worms. They look like shrimp.

Jim
rachelellen
15 years ago
And let me guess....they taste like chicken, right??? :D
Teresa_MN
15 years ago
The great nephews loved everything I brought them. The Earthquake Cake, the Skull pictures, the Sun Gold tomatores and the pumpkins!

My nieces husband read dc's entire thread and said......you have some unusual friends! LOL
User
15 years ago
darch, that skull is amazing! What imagination and skill you have.
hostarhodo
15 years ago
Beautiful presentation of a plate of food and a lot better than all the junk food we have nowadays. Bet it taste as good as it looks. Good work. Also interesting to read of the background.

The skull is way "cool" and the cauliflower is the unexpected crowning touch. I would put it on a tarnished silver plate for a Halloween display.

I collected old silver pieces at the second hand store and made a small totem for the table and had a large platter holding spiderweb cakes with spiderwebs around, candles on tall holders all on a black tablecloth, along with a pumpkin holding gummyworms in pudding and cookies, skeleton with his arm around it. Green punch with blood on rim and a black feather boa around the base. The kids love it all, the parents, some just don't get it. I say its Halloween, you have to use your imagination.

Wild imagination you have as someone said, yes it is true. They tell me the same thing. Fun isn't it, especially when something comes together so well.

Betty
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
Original Author
15 years ago
Posted by annie1992 --------Ã¢ÂÂ OK, now that's just.....icky. Imaginative, but icky and perfect for Halloween. Love the "brain", LOL I'm NOT showing it to the Grandkids, I'm definitely not. They'd want me to carve a butternut squash skull but they'd never eat it, they'd want to save it. ---------Ã¢ÂÂ

Thanks Annie. Grandkids would be OK, but it might give Cooper doggie nightmares :-).

Posted by chase --- Ã¢ÂÂdarch, that skull is amazing! What imagination and skill you have.Ã¢ÂÂ

Thank you chase. I timed the carving, actually it only took 7 minutes.

Posted by hostarhodo ---------- Ã¢ÂÂBeautiful presentation of a plate of food and a lot better than all the junk food we have nowadays. Bet it taste as good as it looks. Good work. Also interesting to read of the background. ------------BettyÃ¢ÂÂ

Thank you Betty. Not to be too melodramatic about this. I did have some interesting feelings while I was eating the wild rice:

To be savoring real wild rice harvested in the traditional way, sent to me by someone who is actually from a Native American background, while I was on the land that once was theirs, ------------------ as I said, was a very interesting feeling that I have never gotten from eating French food, Chinese Food, Italian food-----.

Wild rice, a sacred gift!

dcarch
hawk307
15 years ago
Dcarch:
Go away for a long weekend and you sneak one by me.
I'll second all the comments.
I like the Skull with the Califlower Brains.
Keep them coming. Don't tell everyone you learned from me.
LOU

Wild Imaginations (pix heavy)

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