Rice Pilaf - Alton Brown

From "Good Eats" episode "Pilaf to the People"

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1⁄2 onion, minced
• 1⁄2 red bell pepper, minced
• 2  pinches kosher salt
• 2  cups long grain white rice
• 2 3⁄4 cups chicken broth
• 2  slices orange zest, 1-inch wide by 3-inch long
• 1  pinch saffron, steeped in 1/4 c hot water
• 1  bay leaf
• 1 1⁄2 cups  frozen peas, thawed
• 1⁄4 cup golden raisin
• 1⁄4 cup  chopped pistachios

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a heavy, wide pan with a tight-fitting lid, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onion, red pepper and salt. Sweat until aromatic, stirring constantly.
3. Add rice and stir to coat. Continue stirring until rice smells nutty.
4. Add chicken broth, orange zest, saffron and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Stir once, then cover pan with damp dish towel or tea towel. Place lid on pan and fold corners of towel up over lid.
5. Place pan in hot oven. Bake 15 min, then rest at room temperature 15-20 min without moving lid.
6. Meanwhile, simmer peas in salted water, or microwave them, until heated through.
7. Remove lid from pan, and turn rice out onto a platter. Stir in peas, and fluff with a large fork. Sprinkle with raisins and pistachios.