JAPANESE-INSPIRED BROWN RICE AND MILLET CASSEROLE

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

5 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thinly sliced

1 medium shallot, chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup medium-grain brown rice

½ cup millet

¼ cup soy sauce (regular or reduced-sodium)

¼ cup mirin

3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth

1 sweet potato (10 ounces), peeled and diced into 1-inch bits

1½ cups shelled edamame (no need to thaw if frozen)

1½ cups jarred peeled chestnuts

1. Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. One warning: You’ll need to make this dish in a 2½ to 3-quart flameproof casserole or a large Dutch oven (or French oven). Those latter pots, when covered, may well be too big to sit on your oven rack without lid decapitation. Make any necessary adjustments but be sure the rack is situated as close to the center of the oven as possible while leaving a couple of inches of air space over the top of the pot.

2. Heat whichever pot you choose over medium heat, then swirl in the sesame oil. Add the mushrooms and shallot. Stir these around just until they start to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic; continue stirring until aromatic, maybe 30 seconds or so.

3. Dump in the brown rice and millet. Stir over the heat to get the grains coated in the fat and liquids. Pour in the soy sauce and mirin. As they come to a full bubble, scrape up any browned bits that have glommed onto the pot’s interior bottom.

4. Pour in the broth, then stir in the sweet potato, edamame, and chestnuts. Crank up the heat and bring to a simmer, stirring every once in a while to make sure the millet doesn’t stick.

5. Cover the pot and slide it into the oven. Bake until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 1 hour. Turn the oven off and leave the covered pot in there to steam for 15 minutes (or up to 1 hour if the timing for your dinner has not been impeccable).

SERVES 6

Active time: 20 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Make ahead: Store, covered, in the fridge for up to a day or two. Scoop out and reheat individual servings with a little added vegetable broth in the microwave.

TESTERS’ NOTES

Every autumn, many Japanese cooks celebrate the first of the shinmai ( inline-image

or “new rice”) with a comfort-food mash-up of rice, shiitakes, sweet potatoes, and chestnuts. The traditional dish can be cloyingly sweet since the chestnuts are often soaked in a teeth-aching sugar syrup. We’ve morphed this Japanese standard into a more savory casserole. We’ve also added edamame because they lighten the dish considerably, both in color and taste.

Mirin is a sweetened Japanese rice wine. You can find it in the Asian aisle of almost any supermarket—and certainly in any Asian grocery store. If possible, avoid bottlings laced with corn syrup and monosodium glutamate, both used to mask the off notes of inferior bottlings.