RECIPE: Make C. Ellet’s Steakhouse’s Carolina Gold Rice Pilaf
We go to the Battery just for dinner at C. Ellet’s Steakhouse. No matter what we order, the side dish is always their Carolina Gold Rice Pilaf. I would love to learn how to make it at home. — Jessica Alston, Sandy Springs
Chef Christopher Li says he created this dish for a menu that C. Ellet’s owner-chef Linton Hopkins was planning for Easter. He wrote, “It’s not common for a restaurant to invest in sourcing Carolina Gold rice, which has a unique floral flavor when cooked properly. But I really loved how simple and expressive of an ingredient this preparation turned out to be. With its onions gently sweated in butter, nutty toasted almonds, a little parsley for freshness and visual appeal, with plump individual morsels of a humble, but historical grain, I find myself snacking on it often.”
As a side dish, the restaurant serves about four cups of pilaf.
Carolina Gold is a heritage long-grain rice once grown on thousands of acres in the South. It all but disappeared from cultivation until the 1980s and is now available online through South Carolina sources such as Anson Mills, Carolina Plantation and Marsh Hen Mill.
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 3 cups water, divided
- Salt
- 3/4 cup 1/4-inch diced yellow onion
- 2 cups Carolina Gold rice
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- In a small skillet over medium heat, melt 1 teaspoon butter and toast almonds until golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, melt remaining 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons butter. Add 1/2 cup water and a hefty pinch of salt. When mixture is boiling, add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add rice, remaining 2 1/2 cups water, another hefty pinch of salt and bay leaf. Raise heat to high. When mixture comes to a boil, cover saucepan and reduce heat to low. Cook covered and undisturbed 20 minutes. Do not uncover while rice is cooking.
- After 20 minutes, turn off heat. Do not remove cover. Let rice rest 10 minutes, then uncover and fluff with fork. Stir in reserved almonds and parsley.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per 1/2 cup: 147 calories (percent of calories from fat, 19), 3 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 3 grams total fat (1 gram saturated), 5 milligrams cholesterol, 53 milligrams sodium.From the menu of ... C. Ellet’s Steakhouse, 2605 Circle 75 Parkway, Atlanta. 678-996-5344, c-ellets.com.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
