Rice stuffing for Thanksgiving

SBmini

I'm thinking about giving this a go this year. I'm kind of tired of the regular stuffing and my husband is used to having rice at Thanksgiving anyways. Last year, we tried braising the turkey with saffron at his mom's house and it was amazing. I want to do that again this year and make it even more Armenian by adding rice to the turkey.

Most of the recipes I'm finding have you cook the rice first and stuff the bird with the cooked rice. But i think based on how Armenian rice is made, it may be better to do it a little different. When making Armenian rice you put it in a large pot of water and cook it until it just starts to boil. Then, you drain it and return it to the pan on top of lavash coated in oil (this becomes tadiq which is the most amazing thing in the world). You cover the pot and steam it. By making the rice this way, it becomes very light and fluffy. 

So I'm thinking about maybe starting the rice in boiling water then draining it, adding in some other ingredients (celery, onion, cranberry, sage, thyme) and using the bird for the final step of cooking. Then, to make sure it is all safe to eat, I'd do the tadiq step at the end, or finish it in the oven.

How does that sound? 

blabla89

I don't know what tadiq is but all of that sounds delicious.

SBmini

It's basically fried bread and rice. I can't even describe how good it tastes. 

theartistformerlyknownas

I've never had rice stuffing, but I'm not a fan of stuffing inside the bird at all. Could you just cook the rice the fancy way, pretend it's bread crumbs and make the stuffing recipe that way, and then cook it in the oven?

SBmini

I could... but the drippings from the bird is going to make it SO good. I plan on getting it up to temperature after it is cooked to make sure there's no risk of eating it. 

birdybride2014

That picture of the rice/bread looks so yummy! I want!

theartistformerlyknownas

SBmini said:

I could... but the drippings from the bird is going to make it SO good. I plan on getting it up to temperature after it is cooked to make sure there's no risk of eating it. 

I try not to think about it because it's gross, but my dad rests the neck on top of the stuffing in the baking dish so it still gets drippings. Then I think he takes some pan drippings with the baster and puts those over the top, too. He throws the neck out before serving.

SBmini

lolo883 said:

SBmini said:

I could... but the drippings from the bird is going to make it SO good. I plan on getting it up to temperature after it is cooked to make sure there's no risk of eating it. 

I try not to think about it because it's gross, but my dad rests the neck on top of the stuffing in the baking dish so it still gets drippings. Then I think he takes some pan drippings with the baster and puts those over the top, too. He throws the neck out before serving.

I may be wrong here- but I believe it is the drippings that make stuffing a technical risk to eat (although I've eaten it straight from the bird all my life). So pouring the drippings over the stuffing won't make it any safer to eat than stuffing cooked inside the bird. The best way to do stuffing is to heat it to 165 degrees to ensure safety. 

DH also gets creeped out about things cooked inside of other things. He has struggled with stuffing for that reason, but recently, he's gotten over it. Side to side- stuffing is so much more flavorful than dressing. 

theartistformerlyknownas

SBmini said:

lolo883 said:

SBmini said:

I could... but the drippings from the bird is going to make it SO good. I plan on getting it up to temperature after it is cooked to make sure there's no risk of eating it. 

I try not to think about it because it's gross, but my dad rests the neck on top of the stuffing in the baking dish so it still gets drippings. Then I think he takes some pan drippings with the baster and puts those over the top, too. He throws the neck out before serving.

I may be wrong here- but I believe it is the drippings that make stuffing a technical risk to eat (although I've eaten it straight from the bird all my life). So pouring the drippings over the stuffing won't make it any safer to eat than stuffing cooked inside the bird. The best way to do stuffing is to heat it to 165 degrees to ensure safety. 

DH also gets creeped out about things cooked inside of other things. He has struggled with stuffing for that reason, but recently, he's gotten over it. Side to side- stuffing is so much more flavorful than dressing. 

He's pulling the drippings from the cooked turkey, when they are to temperature. They're also outside the bird where it's hotter. He then puts the stuffing back in the oven, where it continues to cook.

It's the drippings that drip INSIDE the bird before the turkey is safe, then get absorbed into the stuffing inside the bird where it's harder to get it to temperature. 

That being said, I prefer stuffing outside the bird not because of the stuffing itself, but because a stuffed bird takes longer to cook and can dry out the meat.

SBmini

I just did a trial run of the rice. I have decided to cook it outside of the bird in stock. I cooked it Armenian style then folded in sauted onions, celery, garlic and dried cranberries. I then finished it off with saffron sauce I made with stock, butter, sugar and of course saffron.

Rice purist husband approves. 

We have stuffing! 

theartistformerlyknownas

Sounds delicious!

amelisha

I am trying this Armenian style rice this week. I hate boring rice and this sounds like an awesome cure for that.

SBmini

Oh it is amazing! Here's some more complete instructions for it. It's a bit more difficult in the fact that it has more steps, but it isn't hard to make. 

http://figandquince.com/2013/07/01/perfect-persian-rice-polo/