Mexican rice on the griddle

Earlier this week my sous chef and I wanted to use up two pans of leftover rice. In order to re-purpose the rice into a new dish, I prepared a sauce from canned tomatoes, poblano chilies, onion and garlic. The rice was poured onto a oiled griddle and stirred several times. I then folded the sauce into the rice and brought it up to temperature.

The rice looked just like Mexican restaurant rice. It even had one or two obligatory pieces of tomato in the mixture! Here's our new process for cooking Mexican rice at Oakland Feather River Camp:

1. Combine 2 quarts white or brown rice with 4 quarts chicken or vegetable stock in a 12x20x4-inch hotel pan. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and lid. Two pans of rice will feed around 100 campers at Oakland Camp.
2. Bake in a 325-degree convection oven until tender. White rice takes 20 to 30 minutes. You need 45 to 50 minutes for brown rice. 
3. Cool rice overnight in the walk-in refrigerator.
4. Pre-heat griddle to 350 degrees.
5. Saute 4 large pobleno chilies (diced), 1 or 2 jalapeno chilies (minced), 2 onions (diced) with a couple tablespoons minced garlic until soft and slightly charred. Roasted poblano chilies work as well.
6. Puree 1/2 #10 can diced tomatoes with the sauteed vegetables in a blender or food processor.
7. Pour one pan of rice onto griddle. Stir to break up clumps and heat rice.
8. Pour half the puree mixture over the rice. Stir quickly to ensure even distribution of the sauce. Cook until mixture reaches 165 degrees or higher.
9. Check seasoning. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Portion into serving pans.
10. Repeat the process for additional pans of rice.

Mexican brown rice cooks on the griddle at around 350 degrees.