Steamboat Rice

 Steamboat Rice, as you can probably imagine, is not from New England, a place  notably lacking in steamboats. We ate it to accompany the Live Broiled Maine Lobster at my brother's birthday. It hails from that great rice growing state, Louisiana. The rice received more favorable reviews than the lobster did. It was a tasty melange of tomato sauce, rice, ham,  green pepper and other vegetables.
 It seemed to go well with the lobster,  but also would go well with chicken, pork or  beef .
All the chopping took more time than I figured it would. I knew I was running late, and didn't take time to measure.I just chopped and threw vegetables into the pot.  We couldn't remember what time we had invited the  YMs for, whether it was 7:00 or 7:30. At  6:50, I finally turned down the gas under the rice, told my husband to take a sniff of it every so often to make sure it wasn't burning, and went upstairs to take a shower. When I came down,  the rice was emitting a lovely smell from the vegetables.      


  Steamboat Rice

2 tablespoons oil
2 c ups finely chopped onions
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 green pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
3 cups cubed, cooked ham
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1/4  cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped scallions, including green part
1/4 teaspoon thyme
 1 bay leaf
freshly ground  back pepper to taste
2 cups  homemade or canned tomato sauce
2 cups fresh or canned chicken  broth
2 cups  uncooked rice

1. Heat the oil ad cook the onions and the garlic in it until onions are wilted. Add the green pepper and ham and cook, stirring, three minutes longer. Add the parsley, celery, scallions, thyme,  bay leaf, pepper and tomato sauce. Stir , cover and simmer ten minutes.
2. Remove the cover and add the  broth. Bring to a boil; then stir in the rice. Cover and simmer twenty to thirty minutes , or until rice is tender. Remove cover and simmer ten minutes lover. Serve piping hot. Makes 6 servings.