Wild Rice With Mushrooms

Name: Wild Rice With Mushrooms
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 8 ounces long-grain Wisconsin wild rice; 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter; 1 pound cremini or button mushrooms, sliced; 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste; Black pepper, to taste; 1/3 cup dry sherry, such as Dry Sack (do not use cream sherry)

Recipe from Shellie Holmes

Adapted by Ligaya Mishan

Wild Rice With Mushrooms — Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Total Time: 50 minutes
Rating: 4(940)
Comments: Read comments

In Wisconsin, wild rice is truly wild, not cultivated as in other states, the tassels rising and swaying over rivers, lakes and floodplains come late August and September. Called manoomin by the local Chippewa, it is a protected crop that can be harvested only by state residents holding a valid license. And only by hand, as the Chippewa have always done, using wooden flails gently (the grains should fall from the stalk without great effort) from canoes propelled by paddles or push poles.

Shellie Holmes of Rhinelander, Wis., who shares her recipe here, likes to cook wild rice just until it pops open. This is a break with her family’s tradition, which favored a chewier texture and did not allow popping.

“Do not mix with other rice,” she urged, lest you lose the flavor of the wild. —Ligaya Mishan

Featured in: The United States of Thanksgiving

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

8ounces long-grain Wisconsin wild rice
8tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1pound cremini or button mushrooms, sliced
½teaspoon salt, more to taste
Black pepper, to taste
⅓cup dry sherry, such as Dry Sack (do not use cream sherry)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Bring 5 cups water to a boil. Stir in rice, then reduce heat so liquid is just simmering. Cover and cook until grains just begin to pop, about 40 minutes. Drain excess liquid from rice and set aside.
Step 2
Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have released their liquid and are golden brown, about 8 minutes; remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining butter and mushrooms.
Step 3
Return all the mushrooms to the skillet and season with the salt and pepper, to taste. Very carefully add sherry to deglaze the pan, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated but mushrooms are still moist.
Step 4
Mix mushrooms into prepared rice and season again with salt and pepper.

Ratings

4 out of 5

940 user ratings

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Comments

Jeanne Barker7 years ago

This looks delicious. Can you make it ahead a day or two?

Michael7 years ago

We've been making this in our family for over 60 years, but without the sherry. I prefer to cook it a little longer so the grains open more fully.

Two important points
* Add salt only after the wild rice is done -- i.e. cook in unsalted water.
* Never, for this or any other wild rice recipe, mix wild and white rice. The white rice dilutes the flavor of the wild rice and is done in less than 20 minutes, while the wild rice takes 2-3 times as long, destroying the texture of the white rice.

Vickey Ohm7 years ago

I grew up in Minnesota. We also added onions and celery. Used half that amount of butter.

Kevin5 months ago

Made rice in pressure cooker, 1 cup with 3.5 cups water. Sautéed everything else, added to rice. Added 2 sticks of celery. No sherry, used marsala instead. Excellent

MsMercury6 months ago

I doubled the amount of wild rice, (for a larger crowd) but kept the butter and mushroom amounts close to the original recipe. I always saute shallots with a bit of chopped celery and the sliced mushrooms in the butter and add some toasted chopped pecans at the end. The 40-minute cooking time was fine to open the grains but didn't turn them to mush. Still had enough "tooth." Definitely no sherry. The nuttiness of the wild rice still shines without distracting from it.

ang7 months ago

Added 1/2 onion, 3 stalks celery, 1 shallot - next time add garlic. Used portobello mushrooms.

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