Basic Recipe:
2 cups long-, medium- or short-grain brown rice
2-1/3 cups water
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 375 F and move a rack to the middle position.
Spread the rice into an 8-inch square, glass baking dish.
In a covered saucepan on the stove, bring the water and butter or oil to a boil over high heat.
Once it begins to boil, stir in the salt and pour over the rice and cover the baking dish tightly with a double layer of foil or tight fitting lid.
Bake for one hour, until tender. Remove from the oven and uncover.
Fluff the rice with a fork, cover with a clean kitchen towel; let rice stand 5 minutes.
Uncover for another 5 minutes, then serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6.
Sometimes I slightly brown the rice in the oil and add sauteed mushrooms and onions to make a sort of pilaf. Chicken stock works well as a substitute for water.
I'll never cook my brown rice any other way again. It was perfect! I laid 2 bone in skinless chicken breasts on top of the rice, and baked an extra 10 minutes. I used a 4-1/2 Q s/s lidded pan which worked just fine.
Ooh, nifty way to multi-task, Lexxiss! I love this method, and have tossed my rice steamer in lieu of always making rice this way! Sometimes I need to reduce the time a little, or it gets slightly stuck on the bottom--but if that happens, just add a tiny bit of water and reseal the foil around the dish while it sits on the counter to cool a bit. When you go to serve it, it'll be perfect.
Jenn, for me, the stovetop method takes a watchful eye. If it gets too hot, it sometimes boils over...then I turn it down and it doesn't cook enough. When I follow this recipe, it turns out every time, and I just put in in, set the timer and walk away. BTW, I sometimes put pieces of chicken on top, and they all get done at the same time.
I have actually cooked rice in the microwave covered with saran wrap. LOL. That is a really great walk away method! My oven has a timer but it continues to cook until someone actually punches the "off" button.