Pierced ears

 This post is dedicated to my youngest child who will officially become a teenager this weekend. And may G-d have mercy on our souls.


Just before her 13th birthday, my youngest daughter said, again, that she might, possibly, maybe, think about getting her ears pierced. As expected, my husband protested long and loud. He has this thing, you see, about needles. Me, I'm neutral. It's her ears, after all. Let her do what she wants with them.

When G-d was suddenly faced with the need to turn a pack of disorderly former slaves into independent, strong and moral freemen, he started off, strangely, it seems, with rules about slavery. And the strangest of them all was the business about the ear piercing.

Why the rules of slavery first? Probably because that was a subject they knew the most about. Kind of "start with the familiar". He then goes on to give them the basics of decent society, covering in one short parasha a wide range of legal and moral rules of thumb that seem very 'obvious' to us modern men and women living for generations in the "land of the free". These were obviously not obvious for the sons and grandsons of slaves, who needed to be taught everything from the ground up.

Isn't it interesting then, that among the rules G-d had considered essential for a decent society there is a rule about cooking?

In Exodus, chapter 23 verse 19 it says "...do not cook a baby goat in its mother's milk". This is a very famous verse. It is the basis for about half of the rules of kosher food. And it apparently was important enough to be included in the first installment of laws that G-d dictated to Moshe on top of Sinai.

I love G-d. He truly is awesome and wonderful. But really, He couldn't include a recipe or two here? OK, we got the "don't cook meat with dairy", but how, then, are we supposed to cook it? Boil? Broil? Saute? Braise? Fricasseed? Fried? What?

My husband's family tell an excellent story about an incident that happened in Iran. It seems a bunch of them went out to dinner at a place that was run by non-Jews (apparently it was OK to eat at a non Jewish restaurant since Iran is a Muslim country and so they were assured of no pork). They ordered the crown dish of Iranian cuisine - Chello Kebab. This is a succulent, aromatic, mouth watering dish that is pure simplicity. Fluffy, delicate Basmati rice, cooked to absolute perfection (and you cannot possibly know how wonderful "plain" rice is until you have tried this rice). This is served with simply seasoned, wonderfully flavorful, barbecued chunks of beef or lamb and accompanied by platters of fresh, pungent herbs, onions and radishes. It's really, really good. 

Anyway, the party was digging in when it turned out this was the best chello-kebab any of them have ever eaten. So they call the manager over to offer their praise and ask what in the world does he do to the food to make it so good. Proudly, the man explained that the secret is in the large amounts of butter they season the rice with. 

Gulp.

OK. So this is one recipe I will not be releasing here. But you can still learn how to cook rice so it is a "fit for a king" main course instead of a lowly side dish. All Iranian readers are invited to comment and tell me how they cook their rice and how wrong my way is. Just remember, I have learned it from my Iranian mother in law and she is one formidable woman and I will refer all your comments to her. So there.

Not-so-plain rice

1. Use only Basmati rice (and not brown Basmati). Put it in a large bowl and fill with water. Swish it around with your hand and drain. Repeat 3 times until water is quite clear. Drain.

Cover with fresh water and add salt (regular table salt, about 1 1/2 Tbs for 2 1/2 cups rice). 

Let rice soak overnight or at least 3 hours (m-u-c-h better overnight). Drain.

2. Boil more water (about 2 Qt for 2 1/2 cups rice) with 2 Tbs salt. When the water boils, add drained rice and cook 10-15 minutes over medium high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking. Drain the rice in a large strainer and rinse in warm water. If this sounds like cooking pasta, you're not wrong. You even want the rice to be sort of "al-dente".

3. Heat 3 Tbs of oil (not olive oil) in the same pot you cooked the rice in, over medium-low heat. Add spoonfuls of rice one at a time, spreading it around, until the bottom of the pot is covered with rice. You can make this layer of rice thin or thick. Some people keep adding rice until a cone-shape is created.

4. Add the rest of the rice to the pot. Pour 5 Tbs of oil (not olive oil) over the rice in the pot.

5. Cover the opening of your pot with a double layer of paper towels. Put the lid on and add 2 or 3 layers of dish towels on top of the lid.
 

6. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Lower heat to very low and continue cooking for another 45 minutes. Resist the temptation to "check on the rice". The lid must stay on at all times until the rice is done.

This will serve 4 as a main dish, 8-10 as a side dish.

Very Important Note: The rice at the bottom of the pot will turn brown and crispy. It's a bit hard to get it out but it is the best part of the rice. You can scrape it out and scatter pieces over the rice before serving. It's delish.

Oh, and the ear piercing (mandatory for Iranian girls)? If we read the parasha carefully, it almost seems as if the law-maker said to Himself "It's his freedom. after all. Let him do what he wants with it"