Wild Rice Turkey Pecan Dressing (Stuffing, Sidedish)

Wild rice is a grain related to rice but technically is not a rice.  It grows in the marshes of the upper-midwest states such as Minnesota where this blog originates.  Wild rice is apparently rich in proteins and nutrients and is harvested by the Ojibwe tribes of the upper midwest states.  Around the 1950s farms sprung up that produced and harvested wild rice thus making the not-rice grain no longer wild either. Admittedly, I personally don't know the difference between the cultivated product and the truly wild stuff since-to my knowledge-I've only had the wild stuff.  I've read that those in the know seek out rice that is harvested annually by the Ojibwe people as the wild harvested rice is said to be superior to the cultivated domesticated product. 

To my siblings and me, we associate the cooking of wild rice with our mother's stovetop pressure cooker.  In the past few years, pressure cookers have come back into vogue.  Before the multi-function electric countertop appliances such as InstaPot® people occasionally cooked in pressure cookers that were heated over their stovetop burners.  My mother Jan's pressure cooker was a Mirro-Matic brand aluminum pot.  The lid had a gasket around the inside edge of the lid. The lid was locked on by turning the lid to align the two handles.  At the top center of the lid, there was a small vent that stood proud of the rest of the lid.  A round, weighted piece of steel was placed atop the vent pipe and that weight is what regulated the amount of pressure from steam within the pot.  

Mom would use her Mirro-Matic to cook wild rice.  Unlike the modern pressure cookers of today, the weight on the stem of the Mirro-Matic would belch steam and loudly chatter as it kept the pressure within the pot at safe levels.  To a kid though, that noisy rattling pot was considered a product of the devil himself.  It scared the heck out of me.  Mom attempted to assure me--with a volume in her voice that had to compete with what I will call the "Beelzepot" on the stove--was safe and yada-yada-yada.  

Then there was the year when pot malfunctioned.  So, I mentioned there is a vent pipe upon which a steel weight is placed.  Well, it just so happens that a grain of uncooked wild rice is the perfect size to fit into that vent.  Fast forward a few minutes, the cover is seated and sealed, the pan filled with chicken broth and wild rice and other ingredients listed below, the steel weight is placed atop the vent and the recently painted white drywall ceiling in my parent's kitchen was about to get a lesson in physics.  When that tiny piece of rice finally gave way, the pressure of the steam inside the pan had no difficulty shooting that weight off of the top of the pot and into the ceiling.  Luckily nobody was hurt but it is safe to say the sound of that explosive and unexpected "POP!" rattled Mom and gave Dad a reason to find the step ladder and retrieve his bucket of drywall mud from the basement workshop. Ahhh, family memories.  

This recipe was apparently taken from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. I've written the following recipe's instructions for the timid, regular sauce pan using and for the more daring, pressure cooker method. 

Ingredients

• 2½ cups wild rice (rinsed well)
• 1 package turkey giblets and neck
• 7½ cups chicken stock
  
  
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• ¼ cup minced parsley
• 2 cups chopped pecans
  
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp poultry seasoning
• ½ tsp black pepper
  
  

Instructions

1. Cook the first three ingredients together either     
   a) on the stove in a large saucepan for 50 minutes

       OR
b) 20 minutes in a pressure cooker. Let the pressure release naturally.

2. Sauté the next five ingredients together in another pan.
3. Once rice mixture has finished cooking, drain in colander over sink and let cool.
4. Remove neck and giblets from the cooling rice.
5. Pull the meat from the neck bones, and chop the gizzards finely.
6. Combine the rice with the chopped gizzards and neck meat and the sautéed vegetables.
7. Mix in the remaining 4 ingredients.
8. Stuff a 22 lb turkey before roasting or heat in a covered casserole in a 350° F oven and serve as a side dish.

Leftovers can be frozen.  You can also consider using leftovers to make a wild rice soup.