South Dakota · Side
South Dakota Corn and Wild Rice Casserole
- Intermediate
- 1 h 30 m
- roughly 2 of 4 for cost
- Vegetarian
Leads with richness that coats and comforts, savory depth stacked from the pantry’s bass notes.
Ingredients
- 150g wild rice
- 4 ears corn, kernels cut off
- 55g butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 250g mushrooms, sliced
- 55g flour
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 250ml cream
- 150g Swiss cheese, grated
- Salt, pepper, and thyme
Equipment
Grater / zester
The skills inside
Sweating aromatics: soft, never browned
Allergen screen
Found: gluten · dairy
Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.
Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.
Method
- Simmer the wild rice 45 min until the grains split; drain. 45 min
- Sweat the onion and mushrooms in the butter, stir in the flour, and cook 2 min. 2 min
- Whisk in the stock and cream and simmer to a sauce.
- Fold in the wild rice, corn, and half the cheese, then turn into a dish and top with the rest.
- Bake at 190C for 30 min until bubbling and golden. 30 min
How to tell it is going right
This dish has no standard of its own yet. It is judged on the technique it exercises: checked at the pan, while there is still something to be done about it.
Sweating aromatics: soft, never browned 198 recipes
- No colour anywhere: tipped under the light the pieces are translucent to pale gold, with no tan edges, no brown tips, and no browned flecks suspended in the fat.
- The pan is quiet: a low steady hiss, not a crackle. A crackle means the moisture has gone and browning has already started.
- The largest piece pressed against the side of the pan collapses without resistance and with no crunch left at its centre.
- The fat is still clear and loose in the pan and the pan floor is clean: nothing caught, nothing browned on to deglaze, because there was never any fond to build.
- It tastes sweet and mild with no raw allium bite at the back of the throat, and none of the roasted sweetness that belongs to the next technique up the heat scale.
Where it goes wrong The heat was too high and nothing covered the pan, so the pieces took colour before they softened; the finished dish carries a roasty sweetness where it wanted a clean one, and the pieces are still firm at the centre under browned edges.
At the Table
- The Pour
- Nebbiolo (Langhe) or aged Pinot Noir
- Also Right
- White Burgundy for cream-based versions
- From the Taps
- Dubbel
- Zero-Proof
- Roasted barley tea
Earth speaking to earth: forest-floor reds echo fungal depth; truffle and Nebbiolo literally share a hillside and a season.
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