Simple White Rice

"The best teacher in America," a friend said to me, "is Alton Brown."

My friend is a pastor, and we were talking about teaching hard parts of the Bible. Alton Brown is a cook. What possible connection could there be? I borrowed some DVDs to find out.

My friend was right. Brown is a great teacher who takes difficult subjects (chemistry, physics, nutrition, history, etc) and makes them easily accessible to those interested in learning.  I mostly just watched to learn to teach, but along the way I learned how to cook, as well. Today, I love to cook. I attribute the change, in large part, to Alton's influence.

This is Brown's "Rice in a Rush" recipe. I make it at least once a week.

Simple White Rice

Ingredients

• 3 cups boiling water
• 2 T butter
• 2 cups long-grained rice

Instructions

1. Boil the water. It won't work if the water's not boiling.
2. Melt butter in an appropriately-sized pot over high heat.
3. Add rice and stir until lightly brown.
4. Add 3 cups boiling water, cover with a lid, and turn the heat to simmer. Set timer for 15 minutes and do not disturb until time is up.

Notes:

If you want to spice up your rice, add spices between steps 2 and 3. Alton adds a teaspoon of salt, which I avoid. I usually add a chopped onion, which he avoids. Depending on the dish, I may add other spices to the butter before adding the rice and water: chipotle, red pepper flakes, or ginger are the most common. Still, the basic instructions are almost impossible to mess up.