BLACK & YELLOW TABLESCAPE - PILAF RECIPE

This blog post goes with Monday's Portuguese chicken dinner - a black and white with yellow accent tablescape and Armenian pilaf, green beans and salad rounded off the menu.

Good homemade pilaf is very easy and just takes a few ingredients.  Some cooks will add golden raisins and or pine nuts - I like to add pine nuts to mine.  I just love the flavor.  The other ingredients are just long grain white rice, chicken broth (use homemade if you have it on hand) salt, pepper, butter and broken up pasta - preferably angel hair but as you see I used vermicelli nests, about three of them.

Pour the rice and the broken pasta into a medium heated pan and stir until the pasta and the rice are brown in color...if you are using pine nuts add them towards the end and stir them into the rice/pasta mix.  I like to gently brown the pine nuts in the oven first - careful they burn more easily than other nuts.

 Nice and brown and ready for chicken broth.....

Once cooked you end up with nice fluffy, perfectly done rice with pasta and pine nuts.

I decided to do the tablescape with things I love - black and white with yellow and a little red accents....cute black polka dot chicken napkin rings.....

I love my little white chicken, he looks so fresh but he needs a boost on the table - today he is sitting on an overturned ceramic votive holder....

White polka dot chicken napkin holder...pretty yellow snack/dessert plates......

Fun find at Big Lots - adorable votive lanterns that I thought would be cute with some artificial orchids and other greenery......

Recipe for Armenian Pilaf

1/4 cup of butter

1/2 cup of broken pasta (vermicelli, angel hair, etc.)

1 cup long grained regular rice (not parboiled)

2 cups of good chicken broth - preferably homemade

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 cup lightly toasted pine nuts

In a saucepan (with a well fitting lid) over medium heat melt the butter (turn down the heat if it starts to darken), add the rice and the pasta and stir to brown, then add the pine nuts and stir a little more, add the salt, pepper and the chicken broth.

Bring this to a boil, then turn down to a good simmer and place the lid and DO NOT LIFT THE LID for 20 minutes, check and if the rice is not done let it cook for another 5 minutes. When it is done let it "rest" for five minutes then fluff with a fork and serve.  Do not boil this when cooking - the cooking liquid will be gone and the rice will not be done and adding too much additional liquid will make the rice mushy.

Enjoy!

Resource

White Ceramic Chicken, Marshall's

Yellow Votive Lanterns, Big Lots

Silk flowers and greenery, Hobby Lobby

Napkins, made by me

White votive holders, HomeGoods

Crystal, Villeroy & Boch, Bernadotte pattern

Black & White Chargers,Charge it by Jay Black Brocade Charger Plate with White Center

Yellow snack plates,Terramoto Ceramic Polka Dots 6-Inch Accent Dish, White on Yellow, Set of 4

Black Flatware,Cambridge Silversmiths Jubilee Black 20-Piece Flatware Set, Service for 4

Black & White Tablecloth,Buffalo Checked Tablecloth By Lintex, Black, 60"x84", 100% Cotton (Black, 60"x84")

Chicken napkin rings,DII Napkin Rings Set of 4, Hen

Black Plates, Big Lots

Cream Salad Plates, IKEA