What I have truly come to appreciate about having a food blog is challenging myself to learn cooking techniques that have forever altered my previous food path of buying boxed mixes and frozen prepared foods. Amen. With that said, I have developed some food shopping compulsions habits that can make my grocery bill sky-rocket faster than the price of gasoline. Seriously. I have an array of exotic condiments and baking doo-dads that I bought, with a specific mission in mind. Then, my recipe attention deficit disorder kicks in, and I make something entirely different. (I'moutofbreathfromthatreallylongandrunonsentence!)
Therefore, my garage freezer and pantry runneth over. This is when I step into my home "Iron Chef Mode". Instead of relying on an ingredients list for a new recipe, I'm doing the reverse. Based on what I have on hand, determines what's next on the menu at home. I need to shop at home, first, because I don't want to become a food hoarder! I spotted this recipe on "Quinces and the Pea", and I loved the color of the risotto. Making a mental grocery list, I realized I had everything to make this. I had a few asparagus spears in my fridge.
I had a box of unopened Carnaroli rice, and a few opened bottles of white wine in the fridge. Somewhere in the freezer, I recalled seeing a few large shrimp (is that an oxymoron?). My cheese drawer is chock full of Fontina, Gouda, Parmesan, Romano, Feta (I have a serious affinity for cheeses). The last time I actually made a Risotto was Ina Garten's Spring Risotto (August 2009), so it was time to make this delicious Italian comfort food.
Risotto isn't a difficult dish to make. Sure, you have to add small amounts of chicken stock, and you need to do a bit of stirring. On the other hand, it doesn't mean you can't do a little prep work in the kitchen at the same time. I've added some saffron to the broth and white wine, for some color.
I made a few changes from the "Quince's" recipe and I decided to quickly saute' the asparagus (rather than steam them) with a little olive oil and unsalted butter. I also sauteed shallots (instead of green onion) with some fresh garlic, before adding the rice.
As the liquid reduces, I add an additional ladle of chicken broth, and make sure to stir often.
Risotto should be cooked until it's al dente (firm when bitten). The end result that I prefer is a creamy risotto, but I honestly don't want it to be too "soupy". The asparagus is al dente as well, so it's time to cook the shrimp-- I've done a quick marinade of the shrimp with a splash of white wine, finely minced garlic, a squeeze of lemon juice and some olive oil.
These shrimp (tails removed) are quickly cooked for about 2 minutes per side...
We want them pink and no longer opaque. Remove from heat.
The rice is perfectly cooked, I season it with a little more coarse salt. The pan is removed from the heat, and I add a fistful of freshly grated Parmesan, about 2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, the asparagus and a handful of frozen peas (unthawed). I gave the risotto a final stir.
Now, add the cooked shrimp...
Carnaroli rice makes such a creamy risotto! But this needs more freshly grated cheese, and a little lemon zest...
All that's needed is a glass of chilled white wine and for a hungry husband to join me at the dinner table.
TASTING NOTES: You can cook the risotto a minute or two less, if you prefer more of a runny sauce. It's all preference. I loved the creamy, thickness of the rice, which was perfectly cooked. The color of the saffron was really nice, but you could use a pinch of tumeric if you don't have saffron on hand. The shrimp rounded out this light comfort food meal, and a crisp white wine balanced the citrus and the saltiness of the Parmesan.
If you've always thought making risotto is too hard, or too much work, I can assure you that it took about 25 minutes for this dinner to be on the table. It took about 15 seconds for my husband to be at the table, and an immeasurable amount of time to enjoy each others company for a cozy dinner at home-- and definitely a lot more economical than at a restaurant.
At last, the weekend has arrived-- as an extra bonus, we have a three-day weekend. Amen! I have a dozen recipes I've photographed, and I am longing to get them organized and edited so that I can share them with you. Today's recipe is a very simple rice side dish that I served with the Cook's Illustrated Tandoori Chicken. It is, indeed, a simple yet very flavorful dish to make. Did I mention that it's healthy, too? I'm really loving the spice blend of Garam masala. You can make your own blend, but I buy one at my local supermarket because the spice company has done all the grinding and blending for me-- and because it's not too expensive. I used brown basmati rice and my rice cooker, but you can make this in a covered skillet or pot.
Use enough olive oil to thinly coat the bottom of a pot with a tightly fitted cover. Saute onion and garlic, just until fragrant and slightly translucent. Add rice, and cook for about 2 minutes, to lightly toast. Add garam masala spice and stir, and then add the chicken stock (or water).
The addition of golden raisins is something we really enjoy. I also think it adds more color. I added the toasted rice to my rice cooker, then added chicken stock.
Once the rice was cooked, I added about a cup of frozen peas and then gently stirred. On a whim, I added a squeeze of juice from two lime wedges and gave it a final stir. We love cilantro, I garnished the rice with a bit of this fresh herb. Parsley would be fine, too.
VERDICT: Garam masala adds a multitude of flavor to otherwise plain rice. The cinnamon is subtle, and this complimented the flavorful Tandoori Chicken. I make this rice often, as it's become a family favorite. A printable recipe card is at the bottom of this post.
Our California rainy weather and cloudy skies have disappeared, and it's a clear and sunny day. I'm off to enjoy the sunshine, and I'll try and work on more recipes to share. I've been making quite a few baked goods, such as baked doughnuts and a few other tasty treats. Amidst all my baking, I'm still losing weight and swimming on a regular basis. I am feeling so much better! Thank you for your words of encouragement.
As a kid, I disliked fish. My mother, in her true German way, loved to cook whole trout and serve it to us this way. When you're young, if it doesn't look like fish sticks and isn't served with tater tots-- well, a fish with cooked eyeballs looking up at me is about as disgusting as you can get. I refused to eat it. Period.
I avoided fish at all costs, until my early thirties. That's when I discovered Petrale Sole. It was a whole new world! I have also learned to appreciate fresh salmon and fresh tilapia. I've also discovered that fresh trout, sans eyeballs, is a very tasty fish. My favorite way to prepare fish is to sear and roast it (grilling it comes in second). I love the flavorful crust that develops on high heat on a stove, and then is roasted perfectly to present moist and tender fish. Ever since I watched "Food Inc." I have decided to spend a few extra dollars to buy fresh and non-farmed fish. I decided to splurge and buy fresh Pacific (Alaskan) halibut, at my local fish market, which is considered to be the best sustainable choice-- @$17.00 a pound. Ouch. "How long ago was this halbut swimming off Alaskan waters?", I asked. "Two days ago", he replied. "I sure hope so", I thought to myself.
When I arrived home, I opened the packaged and sniffed the fish. Nothing. This is good! Fresh fish shouldn't stink "smell" like fish. To keep things simple, I reached for my can of "Old Bay Seasoning" and preheated the oven to 400F. I grabbed my favorite cast iron skillet, added a little olive oil and heated the pan until the oil just began to ripple and smoke...
I left the fish to sear for about 3 minutes, without moving it around. By lifting a corner, I could see that I was achieving that beautiful brown sear. I flipped the halibut and put the entire pan into the oven. I started the side dish while the halibut was searing...
I originally wanted to make a zucchini gratin. However, our squash isn't quite ready. We're having an unually cool summer with less sunshine that usual. Our tomatoes are behind schedule, but they are showing promise. I picked the few cherry, Sweet 100's and pear tomatoes that I could find. I found one zucchini squash that was ready to cook.
So I pondered what to do with these....
I spotted two ears of corn a friend had given me from her CSA box. In the bowl have fresh corn, zucchini and tomatoes.
I decided to slice a vidalia onion I had, on hand. I drizzled the vegetables with olive oil, kosher salt & fresh cracked pepper....
...and I set the whole pan into the oven, next to the roasting halibut. You could cook the succotash entirely on the stove top, if you prefer.
It took about 5-6 more minutes for the fish to reach an internal temperature of 145F.
On a whim, I added a bit of dried thyme (fresh would have been great) and then a little bit of freshly grated romano cheese. Traditional succotash, I know, is made with corn and beans...and even some heavy cream. This version is much healthier and took about 10 minutes for the cherries to pop. They were ready.
For "Yellow Rice", I rinsed white rice, added about 1/4 tsp of tumeric, used half chicken broth and half water. When the rice was ready,
...I added some lemon zest and squeezed lemon juice and gently blended. You can add fresh herbs and even peas. It's inexpensive to make, and the color is really pretty. This dinner was ready in less than 45 minutes.
I served a chilled bottle of white wine, and the two of us had a quiet and romantic dinner at home.
VERDICT: Halibut is currently my favorite fish. This fish is very mild, and was moist and perfectly cooked. The succotash was so delicious, if I do say so myself. There is something to be said when you can enjoy vegetables that were freshly picked from your own backyard! We grow most of our vegetables in containers, and I encourage anyone to try this. As for the fish-- it was well worth the price I paid. It feels good to support my local fish monger, and I truly could taste the difference from farm-raised not-so-fresh fish. My childhood aversion to fish is gone.
This dinner would have cost, easily, $50.00 in a restaurant. Of course, the dishes don't wash themselves. Fortunately, my husband is great about helping with that.
That's what I call a Date Night! I cook. He cleans. Then, we cuddle and watch a movie at home.
No recipe card for the fish is needed, don't you think This is all technique, and not being afraid to use herbs and seasonings. The side dish recipe cards are below.
