Wild Rice: An Essential Guide to Cooking, History, and Harvesting

By Susan Carol Hauser

The Ojibwe people call wild rice mahnomen,” the good berry. Wild Rice elaborates on the many elements of that tradition, and brings it forward in fresh, delectable recipes. This comprehensive guide to Zizania palustris tells the story of North America’s only native grain, from its emergence in the western Great Lakes area to its use in today’s kitchens. The book demystifies the purchasing of wild riceblack or brown, long grain or short grain, lake rice or river rice, US rice or Canadian riceclarifies cooking options, and proposes wild rice as a fast food (cook a full pound and freeze in small packets).

The recipes range from simple soups to gourmet entrées and food for a crowd. Traditionally, wild rice was harvested from canoes and parched in iron kettles over open fires. Although these old ways are still practiced, much of today’s wild rice is cultivated in flooded fieldsrice paddiesin the Upper Midwest and in California, and is harvested with combines and processed with machinery. The question arises: Which is better-tasting and more nutritiousnaturally occurring wild rice or cultivated wild rice?

Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Good Books and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of cookbooks, including books on juicing, grilling, baking, frying, home brewing and winemaking, slow cookers, and cast iron cooking. We’ve been successful with books on gluten-free cooking, vegetarian and vegan cooking, paleo, raw foods, and more. Our list includes French cooking, Swedish cooking, Austrian and German cooking, Cajun cooking, as well as books on jerky, canning and preserving, peanut butter, meatballs, oil and vinegar, bone broth, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Release date: Nov 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781632201911

Book preview

Cover Page of Wild RiceHalf Title of Wild Rice

Other Books by Susan Carol Hauser

NATURAL HISTORY

Wild Sugar: The Pleasures of Making Maple Syrup

A Field Guide to Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac: Prevention and Remedies

A Field Guide to Ticks: Prevention and Treatment of Lyme Disease and Other Ailments Caused by Ticks, Scorpions, Spiders, and Mites

NONFICTION

My Kind of River Journey: Seeking Passage on the Mississippi

Full Moon: Reflections on Turning Fifty

Which Way to Look

Meant to Be Read Out Loud

You Can Write a Memoir

Girl to Woman: A Gathering of Images

What the Animals Know

POETRY

Redpoll on a Broken Branch

Outside after Dark: New & Selected Poems

Forager

Title Page of Wild Rice

Copyright © 2000 Susan Carol Hauser

Introduction © 2014 by Susan Carol Hauser

First Skyhorse Publishing edition 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [e-mail].

Skyhorse® and Skyhorse Publishing® are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Eve Siegel

Cover photo credit Thinkstock

Print ISBN: 978-1-62914-556-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-191-1

Printed in China

Photographs by Susan Carol Hauser, unless otherwise noted.

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PERMISSIONS

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following for permission to reprint material:

For Photographs and Images:

The Minnesota Historical Society, The Beltrami County Historical Society, Greg Kearns, Michael Haramis, The University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, David L. Hansen

For Captions, Charts, and Graphs:

Thomas Vennum, E. A. Oelke, Greg Britton, Paul Addis, R.A. Porter, Alan Grombacher, University of Minnesota Agriculture Extension Service, The University of Minnesota Press, Cereal Foods World

For Recipes, Charts, and Graphs:

Minnesota Cultivated Wild Rice Council, Gourmet Harvest

In memory of Bill, ricing partner.

My thanks to

Dave Carlson for the wild rice canoe trip on the Turtle River, Erika Bailey-Johnson, Warren Johnson, and David L. Hansen for photographs, Carol Jessen-Klixbull for her fascination with wild rice, Earl Nyholm for his insight, Brian Donovan for his love of language, Tom Vennum for his book, Wild Rice and the Ojibway People, E. A. Oelke for his precision and generosity, the wild rice experts who told me their stories, and my family, friends, and others who shared their recipes.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Prologue: Wild Rice, Ricer, Ricing

1 Manoominike-giizis: Wild Rice Moon

2 The Good Berry

Breads

Bread Machine Wild Rice Wheat Bread

Savory Meal in a Muffin

Tony’s Wild Rice Muffins

Wild Rice Sandwich Buns

Breakfast

Quick Wild Rice Pancakes and Waffles

Sour Cream Wild Rice Pancakes

Wild Rice Whole Wheat Pancakes

Applesauce Wild Rice Crepes

Wild Rice As Is Breakfast Cereal

Wild Rice and Eggs Breakfast Bake

Cheese Sauce

3 Manoomin

Salads

Curried Chicken or Shrimp Wild Rice Salad

Sweet and Tasty Wild Rice Salad

Warm and Nutty Wild Rice Salad

Tarragon and Chicken Wild Rice Salad

Wild Rice Garlic Chicken Salad

Wild Rice Salad with Hard-Cooked Eggs

Wild Rice and Bean Salad

Soups

Wild Rice Fast Food Soup

Karen’s Overnight Cream of Wild Rice Soup

Cream of Wild Rice Soup with Bacon

Cream of Potato and Wild Rice Soup

Cream of Wild Rice Soup with Sherry

Quick Wild Rice and Black Bean Broth Soup

Wild Rice Broth Soup

Sherried Wild Rice Broth Soup

4 Wenabozhoo

Entrees

Shrimp or Chicken Wild Rice Sauté

Spinach and Wild Rice Sauté

Quick Cheese, Spinach, and Wild Rice

Quick Black Bean and Wild Rice Stew

Lentil and Wild Rice Loaf

Cashew and Wild Rice Patties

Green Peppers with Wild Rice Stuffing

Turkey Wild Rice Loaf with Ginger Cranberry Compote

Chicken and Wild Rice Bake

Henry Wellington’s Blackened Chicken Jambalaya with Wild Rice

Wild Rice Chicken Escallops with Fruited Wild Rice Stuffing

Ham and Wild Rice Tart

Wild Rice Meat Loaf

Hamburger Wild Rice Steaks with Bleu Cheese and Mushrooms

Wild Rice Preserves Garlic

Pork with Apple and Wild Rice

Pork Chops with Wild Rice and Cranberry Walnut Stuffing

Wild Rice Chili

Poached Fillet of Sole with Wild Rice, Cilantro, and Lime

Casseroles

Wild Rice and Cream Cheese Casserole

Tomatoes and Olives Wild Rice Casserole

Favorite Hot Wild Rice Dish

Surprise Wild Rice

Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole with White Sauce

Russell’s Good Chicken Hot Dish

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole with Almonds

Chicken and Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole

Veal and Wild Rice Casserole

Grouse and Wild Rice Casserole

Bacon Wild Rice Casserole

Ground Beef and Wild Rice Casserole

Sausage and Wild Rice Casserole

Pork and Beef Wild Rice Casserole

5 Zizania palustris

Side Dishes

Pecan Wild Rice Side Dish

Wild, White, and Brown Rice Blends

Minnesota Wild Rice Side Dish

Henry Wellington’s Wild Rice

Herbed Wild Rice Pilaf

Kat’s Quinoa and Wild Rice Pilaf

Wild Rice in Squash

Stuffings

Wild Rice and White Wine Stuffing

Quick Wild Rice Stuffing

Wild Rice Dressing with Bacon

Desserts

Wild Rice Maple Cake

Quick and Surprisingly Good Wild Rice Pudding

Creamy Baked Custard Wild Rice Pudding

Snacks

Popped Wild Rice

Wild Rice Deviled Eggs

Beer

Wild Rice Beer

Wild Rice for a Crowd

Wild Rice Au Gratin

Wild Rice Stuffing

Wild Rice Sauté

Wild Rice Oriental Soup

Lemon-Tarragon Wild Rice

Wild Rice Quiche Florentine

Epilogue: The Passionate History and Probable Future of the Good Berry.

Endnotes

Recommended Reading

Bibliography

Recipe Index

General Index

Tables

Chapter 2

Table I: Nutritional Comparison

Table II: A Buyer’s Guide: Look at the Rice

Table III: A Buyer’s Guide: Look at the Label

Table IV: Wild Rice Yields

Table V: Approximate Wild Rice Cooking Times

Table VI: Cooking Instructions

Chapter 3

Table VII: Description and Distribution of Zizania Species

Table VIII: Growth Cycle of Zizania palustris

INTRODUCTION

Wild Rice was first published in hardcover in 2000. In 2001, it won a Minnesota Book Award and in 2004 it was issued in paperback. With this publication, it has a new publisher and many new photos although little about wild rice has changed over the years. It remains a natural and nutritious food, the same one that sustained North American peoples in centuries past as it does today.

Also unchanged since the first publication, is the contentious science and politics of Zizania palustris, wild rice. This humble plant might not seem at the outset to be a candidate for a complex controversy, but it is. Z. palustris is indigenous to the Upper Great Lakes Area of North America and nowhere else in the world. Yet today, the bulk of wild rice is harvested not in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Canada but in California, where it is grown in cultivated paddies. The original seeds for California wild rice and for cultivated beds in Minnesota and Wisconsin came from natural beds in Minnesota. They have been selected for cultivated farming but they are still Z. palustris. Efforts to modify the seed for easier growing and harvesting have not, however, stopped with selection. The potential for abuse—for genetic modification and hybridization—have botanical, cultural, and ethical consequences. For example, genetically modified seeds would almost certainly find their way into natural wild rice beds, forever altering the true crop.

For the cook, the complexities of Z. palustris are more manageable. Chapter Two of Wild Rice sorts out the variables of buying and cooking wild rice: by color (black, brown, blond), origin (paddy, lake, river), size of the grain (long, short, thin, wide), method of harvest (hand, mechanical), and method of processing (hand, mechanical).

In the end, the best wild rice, in the past as in the present, is determined by individual taste preference and intended use. Lighter, broken rice works well in soup but not as a side dish. Smaller, lighter grains cook faster than larger, darker grains. The best way to understand wild rice is to cook and use it frequently. Cook a whole bag of it at one time and freeze it in one- or two-cup packets. Use it in soups and chili, stir it into pancakes, toss in black beans for a quick side dish or salad, or just heat it up, garnish with a splash of parmesan cheese, and eat it while standing in the kitchen. It is my favorite fast food: nutritious, healthful, and delicious.

Susan Carol Hauser

Puposky, Minnesota, 2014

Zizania palustris ready to harvest. University of Minnesota, David L. Hansen. Used with permission.

PROLOGUE: WILD RICE, RICER, RICING

North of Bemidji, Minnesota, on Beltrami County Highway Nine, if you follow the road far enough, you will come to a low spot in the terrain. First, there is a pasture that slopes toward the road and yields to a large pond, then there is a watercourse.

The watercourse crosses under the highway. In the spring, it is brisk with snow melt. At its bottom, even then, seeds from last year’s Zizania palustris are breaking through the muck of the soaked earth. As the water slows to its summer pace, the plants take hold and grow themselves to the surface of the stream.

In June, narrow, delicate leaves unfurl on the water’s surface where they float with the current. In July, the plants’ slender stalks, with encouragement from the long sun, breach the water, stretch into air, stand straight, and begin to set flowers.

Around the shore of the pond and reaching back and out from the stream, more wild rice rises up in its annual ritual of perpetuation. This one stand spreads out for acres to the east and west for as far as a traveler in a car can see.

Every year in late summer when I drive down County Nine, I say to myself, maybe I will rice this year. In northern Minnesota, rice is a verb as well as a noun: We are going ricing. I riced last weekend. We say it the way we say We’re going to sugar next week, and