Red Rice

Ingredients

• 9 bacon slices
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (12-oz.) can tomato paste
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups uncooked long-grain rice

Preparation

1. 1. Cook bacon slices in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon, and set aside.
2. 2. Sauté chopped onion in hot drippings in skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until tender.
3. 3. Add tomato paste to skillet, stirring until mixture is smooth. Gradually stir in 3 1/2 cups chicken broth, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet. Stir in sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
4. 4. Combine tomato mixture and 2 cups uncooked long-grain rice in top portion of a cooktop rice steamer. Stir in crumbled bacon. Add water to bottom of steamer, and bring to a boil over high heat. (We used 4 1/2 cups water, but amounts may vary with different steamers. Follow manufacturer's instructions.) Place the top of steamer over boiling water. Reduce heat to medium-high; cover and cook 1 hour or until rice is tender, stirring every 15 minutes.
5. Note: For testing purposes only, we used a 5 1/2-qt. Metro cooktop rice steamer.
6. Oven Method: Prepare recipe as directed through Step 3. Stir 2 cups uncooked long-grain rice into tomato mixture in skillet, and bring to a boil. Stir in bacon pieces. Pour mixture into a lightly greased ovenproof Dutch oven; bake at 350° for 1 hour or until rice is tender.