Mike Van de Elzen: Classic Rice Pilaf - The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

It's still sinking in just what's happened to our tiny little community of Muriwai. So much destruction and so much loss. The two firefighters lost. I didn't know them personally, but I know they were very highly regarded within the Muriwai community. 

And we are just a small part of the massive destruction, which is still unfolding around the North Island. 

We had our damage, lots of trees down but we still have our house and next week the cookery school is back open, so we are lucky. Being on the north-east side of Muriwai means we're away from the steep sea-view hills that gave way trapping the firefighters and destroying all the houses. The amount of earth that has fallen down those hill is simply unbelievable, Muriwai has changed forever! Many of our friends have had their house yellow and red stickered, so they may have to pack up and leave which is very sad. 

This week we have been cooking for the volunteer firefighters and police officers that continue to do an amazing job at a very trying time. Our local Waimauku Fresh Choice has kindly donated a lot of our food that we cook at the school and we will continue to cook for anyone that needs a hot meal in the area.  

On Thursday we had almost 1000 people from the Muriwai area come together at the golf club not only to eat, but show their support for the many that have lost everything.  

We will get through this. 

This week I've just included a recipe that we cooked last night for the Fire Station, it's fast and easy to scale up and feed large numbers. Just add some cooked meat or more vegetables to make a more complete meal. 

Classic Rice Pilaf 

Cook time: 25 minutes 

Prep time: 5 minutes 

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock  

4 cups long grain rice  

1 onion, peeled and diced  

2 cloves garlic crushed  

50 gm butter  

2 tbsp vegetable oil  

2 tsp sea salt  

optional  

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper  

1 tsp curry powder  

1 tsp turmeric 

Preheat the oven to 180*c  

Place the stock into a pot and bring to the boil. Heat medium fry-pan, add in the oil and slowly fry of onions and garlic. Add in the spices.  

Take a large casserole dish and combine the rice and fried onion mixture. Cube up the butter and dot across the top.  

At this point if you want you can add a couple cups of frozen vegetables.  

Pour over the hot stock. Wrap the casserole dish tight with tin foil and place into the oven.  

Bake for 35 minutes before removing and allow to rest covered for a further 10 minutes.  

After this time you can unwrap the tin foil and using a fork to fluff up the rice before serving.  

If you want you can add cooked meat after this time. 

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