Pressure Cooked Wild Rice

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Servings 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

1½ cups wild rice
3½ cups water
1 cup chopped dried fruit such as tart cherries apricots, raisins, currants or a mixture
Sherry or apple juice to cover the dried fruit
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 small or 1 medium apple peeled, cored, cut into chunks
1 medium pear cut into chunks
½ cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons apple juice
1 tablespoon agave or maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Put the water and wild rice in the pressure cooker and lock on the lid. Bring to high heat to get to high pressure and lower the pressure to maintain high pressure for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the pressure come down naturally. Carefully remove the lid, tilting it away from you.
When done, drain the rice from the cooking water and put the cooked wild rice into a large bowl.
While the wild rice is cooking, soak dried fruit in sherry or apple juice, to cover. Drain fruit after 30 minutes and set aside. (Reserve liquid for other uses.)
Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Sauté apples, pears and almonds about 2 minutes. Add the apple juice and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Add 1 table¬spoon syrup, spices, cooked wild rice, drained fruit, salt to taste and cook together another few minutes, stirring. Correct seasonings, adding lots of pepper if you like it. Remove from heat.
Serve mounded on a plate or stuff into a partially baked squash and bake in the oven at 350F for 30–45 minutes until the squash is thoroughly cooked and the filling is hot.

Notes

Note: If you don’t have a pressure cooker, ask for one for a holiday gift. Until, then, you can cook 1 ½ cups wild rice with 4 ½ cups water or broth for 55 to 60 minutes on the stove top, until the grains are thoroughly cooked and partially split open. Continue with the rest of the recipe.