Zaytinya Saffron Pilaf
The Color is Quite Nice
Time:1 hour 25 minutes
Ingredient Availability: 4/5
Difficulty: 2/5
Whenever I go to a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern restaurant, I love to get the saffron rice. I wouldn’t say that I really know what saffron tastes like, but I’ve never had a saffron rice dish that I didn’t enjoy. This one from the Zaytinya Cookbook takes things up several levels from what I’m used to. With the addition or dried fruits, shallots, and nuts, I think this one might be a real experience.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
As mentioned in a previous analysis, saffron isn’t the easiest thing to find, so that’s why this recipe loses a point in ingredient availability. However, I was still able to find it, so it’s not that big of a deal. One thing that I kinda messed up here is that I bought prunes instead of dates. For some reason I was thinking that they were the same thing, only to realize that they are different when I was getting ready to start this recipe. While they are supposed to have different flavors, I think that if prunes are what you have, you should be able to substitute them. I think the sweetness is more of the idea.
Tools:
Sharp Knife
Large Pot
Cooking Review:
Prep: 30 minutes
The prep for this recipe included slicing the shallots, chopping the prunes and dried apricots, and heating the oil for the crispy shallots. I also crushed the pistachios and measured out the rice and vegetable stock. I would recommend that you go ahead and measure out all of your seasonings in this step as well to save you scrambling later on.
Crispy Shallots: 10 minutes
I coated some of my shallots in flout and after waiting a little longer for my oil to come to temperature, I added the shallots to the oil and let them fry for about a minute before removing them and letting them drain on a paper towel lined plate. I sprinkled them with salt and set them aside.
Preparing for Rice: 14 minutes
I added the butter to a large pot and let it melt before adding in the shallots and cooking them for about 3 minutes. I added the pasta next, toasting for about 8 minutes while I frantically measured out all of the seasonings and added them as quickly as I could. I definitely should have had all of them measured out and ready to go to prevent this. Due to my error, It was starting to look like the bay leaf, shallots, and pasta were beginning to burn. I was very worried that I had just ruined the dish, but decided to continue. During this step, I put the stock in a small pot to come to a boil.
Cooking Rice: 20 minutes:
The rice was added next and toasted for about 2 minuted before the stock was added. I reduced the heat and covered the pot and let the rice cook for 15 minutes. After that, the pot was removed from the heat to steam for an additional 5 minutes.
Finishing: 4 minutes
To finish the pilaf, I stirred in the nuts, prunes, and apricots. I, then, stirred in the butter and topped the rice with the crispy shallots and parsley.
Analysis:
Although I was almost certain that this was going to come out horribly bitter due to me taking extra time to add the seasonings and somewhat burning the pasta and shallots, I was happy to find out that there was only a very slight bitter aftertaste. For this analysis, I will overlook that, as I am sure that was completely my fault. The flavor is very good and well balanced. The saltiness level is perfect and well balanced by the butteriness and sweetness from the dried fruit. I like the texture, too. The rice grains are distinct and individual, while the fruit adds some chew. The nuts here and there add a nice crunch along with a little flavor of their own. I think the flavors might be even better if I hadn’t taken the pasta and shallots so far. Some flavors may have been lost during that process. Despite that, I was really impressed by this dish. I’m going to give it a 9/10. There’s very little to find wrong with this recipe and if you’re on your toes, I think You can really knock it out of the park.
