Stuck-Pot Rice with Potato Crust and Broiled Shrimp

STUCK-POT RICE WITH POTATO CRUST AND SHRIMP
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s “The Minimalist” column, N.Y.Times, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006

Salt
1 cup basmati rice, well rinsed
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 cup melted butter
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. ground fennel (not seeds)
1 medium waxy potato (thin-skinned variety like Yukon Gold)
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced. Chop and reserve
The feathery leaves for garnish.
3 scallions, sliced crosswise in ¼ inch slices.
1 tsp. finely chopped garlic
18 large shrimp
1 tsp. finely chopped garlic
½ cup flour for dredging, seasoned with salt, pepper, Old Bay seasoning and paprika
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1. Fill a medium pot with lightly salted water, and bring to boil. Stir in rice, return to boil and reduce heat so water is at a lively simmer. Cook undisturbed about 5 minutes; drain, and set aside. Rice will be only partly done. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. In a small bowl, combine 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil with the ground fennel. Add the chopped garlic.
3. Peel potatoes, and cut crosswise into thin slices. Put remaining butter and oil in large heavy-bottom pot. Add fennel, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes. Transfer fennel to a plate, and set aside.
4. Add ¼ cup water and butter-oil-ground fennel-garlic mixture to pot. Sprinkle the sliced scallions on bottom of pot and then carefully cover the scallions with a layer of potato slices. Add half the rice, then fennel, then remaining rice. Wrap a clean kitchen towel around lid of pot so it completely covers inside of lid; gather corners on top so they do not fall anywhere near stove. Place lid on pot, sealing tightly.
5. Turn heat to medium-high. When you hear water spattering – in about 5 minutes – turn heat down very low. Cook undisturbed about 45 minutes. If the potatoes do not smell toasty turn the heat to high for about 4 or 5 minutes and let it sizzle and brown. Don’t let it burn. Remove from heat, and let sit 5 minutes more.
6. Carefully remove lid and cloth, and turn pot upside down over a platter. If potatoes come out in a single crust, terrific. If not, use a spatula to scrape pieces out of pan and onto rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with the reserved feathery fennel leaves and serve with broiled shrimp. (recipe follows)

PREPARE BROILED SHRIMP

Pre-heat broiler.
Clean and remove shells of shrimp. Place in bowl with 1 tsp. finely chopped garlic and 1 tsp. e-v olive oil. Set aside while preparing the flour.
Mix ½ cup flour with ¼ tsp. salt, some freshly ground pepper, ½ tsp. Old Bay seasoning and 1 tsp. paprika.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in baking pan.
Dredge shrimp in flour mixture and place in baking pan.
Place under broiler and broil for 3 minutes. Turn shrimp and broil for 3 more minutes. Take out and pour over the rice.

Serves 4.When I read Mark Bittman's column on Jan. 11th in the New York Times Wednesday Food Section I got really excited. Here was the story of how to prepare a wonderful rice dish I'd eaten many times at one of my favorite restaurants, The Persian Grille, in Lafayette Hills, PA (just outside of Philadelphia). This is a Middle Eastern preparation for their delicious rice that is cooked with a wonderful crust on the bottom. When they serve the rice they make sure each portion comes with a little of this crust (never enough). I'd tried to duplicate it at home after talking to the lovely Iranian family who own the restaurant and they even gave me a small pamphlet describing the process, but I was never able to meet with much success. Neither can I remember the name of this crust. I guess it's an Iranian word that sounds like "tadik", but I'm not sure of the spelling. So here comes Mark Bittman's column in which he describes three different ways of preparing what he calls Stuck-Pot Rice. One is with lentils and pita crust; another with yogurt and spices; and the third with a potato crust and fennel. So tonight I tried the latter. But I wanted something to go with it and thought simple broiled shrimp and a nice green salad would be perfect. And it was. The dinner was ready. I called my husband to the table and no sooner did I serve him his platter than the telephone rang. Because he's the president of our Co-op he frequently gets calls at all hours of the day and night. And of course dinner time is a favorite time for problems to arise. Well, of course he had to run out to check on the emergency and it was 15 minutes before he came back to his slightly cooled down epicurian delight. However, we both declared it a huge success. Now this is not the plain basmati rice that the Persian Grill serves sprinkled with a little ground sumac, but it did have a wonderful browned potato crust which makes it easier than trying to brown the rice itself. And that, I think, is the secret of success - putting either potato or pita under the rice to give the crispness that you want. I will say one thing about the recipe - I usually make some changes to others' recipes, tailored to my taste. In this recipe I changed the proportion of rice to the rest of the ingredients. I used a cup of rice instead of 1 1/2 cups. I substituted ground fennel for the saffron that Bittman suggests. I added scallions to the potato layer and I added some garlic. But I did follow his process and found it very rewarding and most delicious.