Three Chile Rice

Sadly it is the end of summer but the good thing about that is people have more chiles than they think they can use. Chiles were our most fruitful “crop” this year and I've also been given 3 bags of a variety of chiles from co-workers.

I have been using them as fast as I can. An easy way to use chiles with a big flavor payoff is to add them to rice. I also like to use a variety of peppers in one dish to blend fruitier chiles (poblano, bell, and jalapeno) with hotter ones (cayenne, habanero).

In this recipe, I used poblano, anaheim, and cayenne. 

Half of our cayennes were REALLY hot this year and this was one of the super hot ones, giving this rice some heat. You could make it mild by substituting roasted red bell pepper or sweet ancients for the cayenne. 

Three Chile Rice

2 Tbsp butter, unsalted

1 cup rice

¼ tsp paprika

1 cup water

¾ cup beef stock

¼ cup lime juice

1 ea poblano chile

1 ea annaheim chile

1 ea cayenne, finely chopped

¾ cup corn kernals

1-2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp turbinado sugar

Roast the poblano and annaheim over a hot charcoal fire, blackening all sides.

Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam for 5 minutes.  Cut off the stem end, split the chiles lengthwise to open them up and scrape out the seeds.  Turn over and scrape off the charred skin.  Dice the chiles.

Melt the butter in a large skillet preheated over medium heat. Add the rice and paprika, stirring to coat. Saute the rice until it becomes fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add the water, stock, lime juice, and salt. Bring to a simmer and cover. Cook 5 minutes.

Stir in the chiles, corn, cilantro and sugar. Continue to simmer another 13-15 minutes or until the rice is thoroughly cooked.

This three chile rice was an excellent side dish to go along with the flank steak I grilled using Sweetwater Spice Company's Tres Chile Fajita Bath [upcoming post].