Rice needs to be thoroughly washed to remove the earthy taste it is so apt to have. A good way to do this is to put it into a colander, in a deep pan of water. Rub the rice well with the hands, lifting the colander in and out of the water, and changing the water until it is clear; then drain. In this way the grit is deposited in the water, and the rice left thoroughly clean. Dry in the oven before using.

Boiled Rice

Rice to be boiled in the ordinary manner requires two quarts of boiling water to one cupful of rice. It should be boiled rapidly until tender, then drained at once, and set in a moderate oven to become dry. Picking over and lifting lightly occasionally with a fork will make it more flaky and dry. Care must be taken, however, not to mash the rice grains.

Steamed Rice

Soak a cup of rice in one and a fourth cups of water for an hour, then add a cup of milk, turn into an earthen dish suitable for serving it in, and place in a steam-cooker or in a covered steamer over a kettle of boiling water, and steam for an hour. It should be stirred with a fork occasionally, for the first ten or fifteen minutes.

Steamed Rice No. 2

Look over and thoroughly wash one cup of rice. Drain, spread thinly on a shallow dish, and dry in the oven. Even should it become a trifle yellowed, no harm is done. Introduce the rice into two cups of boiling water, place in a steamer, and allow it to cook one hour without stirring. Rice should not be cooked in a vessel where it will be more than three inches deep, or the weight of the upper part will crush the lower, and make it soggy.

Rice With Fig Sauce

Steam a cupful of best rice as directed above, and when done, serve with a fig sauce prepared as directed on page 24. Dish a spoonful of the fig sauce with each saucer of rice, and serve with plenty of cream. Rice served in this way requires no sugar for dressing, and is a most wholesome and palatable breakfast dish.

Orange Rice

Wash and steam the rice according to the directions already given. Prepare some oranges by separating into sections and cutting each section in halves, removing the seeds and all the white portion. Sprinkle the oranges lightly with sugar, and let them stand while the rice is cooking. Serve a portion of the orange on each saucerful of rice.

Rice With Raising

Carefully wash a cupful of rice, soak it, and cook as directed for steamed rice. After the rice has begun to swell, but before it has softened, stir into it lightly, using a fork for the purpose, a cupful of raisins or Zante currants. Serve with cream.

Rice With Peaches

Steam the rice as previously directed, and when done, serve with cream and a well-ripened peach pared and sliced on each individual dish.

Browned Rice

Spread a cupful of rice on a shallow baking-tin, and put into a moderately hot oven to brown. It will need to be stirred frequently to prevent burning and to secure a uniformity of color. Each rice kernel, when sufficiently browned, should be of a yellowish brown, about the color of ripened wheat. Steam the same as directed in the recipe for steamed rice No. 2, using two cups of water for each cup of browned rice. When properly cooked, each kernel will be separate, dry, and mealy. Rice prepared in this manner is undoubtedly more digestible than when cooked without browning.

Browned Rice With Black Raspberry Sauce

Prepare the rice as directed in the preceding recipe, and when cooked, serve hot with a sauce prepared by pressing canned or freshly stewed black raspberries through a fine colander, to remove the seeds. The sauce should be about the consistency of cream. Serve hot or cold as desired.