Wild Rice With Currants

This Wild Rice dish is a Thanksgiving tradition in my Wife's midwestern family. I believe it originally came from a ladies' association cookbook of some sort. Since moving to California, we have made it with much success for many different groups of people. It is very tasty, easy to make, and never fails to provoke comment. I have included our changes in parentheses. Whatever the original recipe intended, we always use Zante Currants, which I guess are really small raisins.

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Wild Rice With Currants

1c. Wild Rice
6-7 c. Chicken Broth
½ c. Butter (¼ c. butter)
1c. Chopped Onion
1c. Chopped Celery
(½ # Sliced Mushrooms, sauteed)
1c. Currants
¼ Cup Rose Wine
Salt and Pepper to taste
½ tsp. Dry Thyme (1 tsp. Fresh)
½ c. Chopped Parsley

Cook rice with enough water to cover. Boil 5 minutes, rinse and drain. Repeat as above. Now add chicken broth, cook, simmering for 35 minutes. Almost all broth will be absorbed, rice will not be dry. Meanwhile, saute onion and celery in butter, when onion is transparent add currants and Rose wine and cook until currants are plump. Add vegetable and currant mixture along with remaining ingredients to the rice and cook another 5 minutes to blend flavors. Makes 8-10 servings

Jean Morehead