Mexican Flag Rice

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 3 cups rice, divided
• 6 tablespoons lard or 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, minced plus 1/2 onion (for the red rice)
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 stalks celery, both cut in half
• 5 1/3 cups chicken broth, divided
• 1 1/2 limes, juice only
• 3 poblano chiles, deveined
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped finely
• 1 large tomato
• 1 parsley sprig
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaf

Recipe

• 1 cover the 3 cups of rice in very hot water and set aside to soak for 15 minutes.drain,and rinse with cold water.drain the rice again and spread out to dry on a towel or baking sheet for an hour.
• 2 meanwhile mince 1 onion,mince 4 cloves of the garlic.
• 3 make the puree for the green rice:place poblano chiles,1/4 cup cilantro ,and 1/4 cup chicken broth in a blender and puree until smooth.set aside.
• 4 make the puree fot the red rice:place the tomato,1/2 onion,2 cloves of garlic and 1/3 cup chicken broth in a blender and puree until smooth.set aside.
• 5 heat the oil in a large pot over medium until hot.add the rice and cook,stirring,for a mi nute or two.add the onion and garlic,reduce heat and continue cooking for a couple of minutes,stirring until the rice sounds like sand and the onion is translucent.remove from heat.
• 6 place 1/3 of the rice in a medium pot,add 1 stalk of celery,juice of 1/2 lime and 2 cups of chicken broth bring to a boil.when it begins to boil,reduce to a simmer and cover.
• 7 place 1/3 of the rice in a pot with the green chile puree and cook over medium until the puree is slightly reduced(it helps if the pot is already hot).add 1/4 cup cilantro,juice of 1/2 lime,and 1 3/4 cups chicken broth.bring to a boil.when it boils,reduce heat to a simmer,and cover.
• 8 place the last 1/3 of the rice in a hot pot,add the tomato puree and cook to slightly reduce the tomato sauce.(it helps if the pot is already hot).add 1 celery stalk,1 sprig parsley,juice of 1/2 lime,and 1 2/3 cups chicken broth.bring to a boil.when it boils,reduce to a simmer and cover.
• 9 cook each pot of rice about 20 minutes,or until the rice is tender and has absorbed all of the liquid.remove from heat.
• 10 fluff each batch of rice with a fork.arrange the rice in a large casserole dish ,first a band of red,then ,then green,to resemble the mexican flag.garnish with a 1/4 cup of cilantro leaves in the center and serve hot.