I cannot believe I’ve only made risotto a handful of times this winter! That is crazy because I luuurve risotto. Maybe the weather is turning all crappy again to inspire me to make more risotto?

Anyway, this is the latest risotto experiment — sort of a Spanish-inspired theme. I’ve just started eating cauliflower and I am trying to throw it into as many dishes as possible. Cauliflower in 2007/2008 is like the spinach of 1995.

I think cauliflower is the last vegetable I have left to develop a liking for…er, okay, wait, still not crazy about beets. And I have tried…but that’s a different story.

So, cauliflower is very good roasted, which is how this recipe starts. Roasting is always a good place to start. After the roasting, there is sauteing, stirring, melting and then eating.

Cauliflower Risotto with Saffron, Pancetta and Manchego
1 head of cauliflower, cut into 2-inch-wide florets
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1/4 cup pancetta cubes
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large sprig of rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
1 pinch saffron threads
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup of white wine
4 cups chicken stock, simmering
1/2 cup manchego cheese, grated (you can also sub different cheeses — Parmesan, feta, gruyere, goat cheese, I think they’d all work just fine)
Garnish: more chopped rosemary, grilled shrimp

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss cauliflower with oil, parmesan, some salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread evenly on a baking pan and roast in upper third of oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Set aside.

Now, heat up a big pot and add the remaining olive oil and the pancetta cubes, onion and garlic. Cook for about 2-3 minutes and add the rosemary and saffron.

Next comes the rice. Add that to the pot and stir to coat in the oil and pancetta-y goodness. Add the wine and stir until it is mostly absorbed. Then, start adding the simmering broth (about 1/3 a cup at a time), stirring, adding more when the liquid in the risotto pot is almost absorbed.

When you’ve gone through about half the broth, add the cauliflower (do not forget the golden Parmesan bits!) and continue to add more broth as it cooks. On your last addition of broth, add the cheese. And stir while it melts. Taste and salt and pepper as needed.

Serve in bowls with more chopped parsley duh, I meant rosemary, as a garnish and grilled shrimp on the side if desired. And really, who doesn’t desire grilled shrimp on the side?

Red wine and bread on the side is also quite nice! Oh, hell, get a plate of green olives too…

The original recipe called for vanilla soy milk. We didn’t have any so I used fat-free milk plus some vanilla and a bit of honey. I also messed up the ratio — I was doing a half recipe and I accidentally did not halve the whole wheat flour, which was actually no problem. The batter looked and worked just fine. In fact, if I had used the amount of flour that the recipe originally called for, I think the batter would have been too runny. So, the recipe below is exactly how I made my pancakes. Double the whole recipe to feed more than 2-3 people.

Taste-wise, I really enjoyed these. The ginger-peach green tea added just enough flavor in the background to make them interesting, while the texture was rather light and fluffy. These are, of course, healthy pancakes and you can kind of tell that while eating them. So, just, uh add a side of bacon and you’re in business. Oh! And fruit. Fresh fruit. See, healthy again!

Heart Healthy Oatmeal Green Tea Pancakes
Recipe adapted from one appearing in the Orlando Sentinel, which in turn was adapted from WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook: Featuring the 40 Foods Proven to Promote Heart Health by Kathy Kastan, Suzanne Banfield and the members of WomenHeart
3/4 cup fat free milk
1 flavored green tea bags or 1 tsp loose leaf tea — for this I used Stash ginger peach green which was very good (here’s the loose leaf version)
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt

Bring the milk and honey to a light simmer (you do not want it to actually boil at all) on medium heat.

Remove from heat and add the tea bag or the loose leaf tea in an infuser. Let steep 3 minutes. It will smell very good. You will be tempted to drink some but don’t — you need the green tea milk for the pancakes! Discard tea bag or remove infuser. Press on tea to get all of the milk out.

Add the vanilla and stir. Cool the tea/milk mixture to room temperature. Stir the infused milk into the oats and let stand 15 minutes.

Whisk together the buttermilk, oil and eggs. Stir in the oatmeal mixture, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Coat skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Place on medium-high heat. Drop batter by 1/4 cups onto the griddle. Cook 2 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the top and the edges begin to look dry. Turn and cook 1-2 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit. Or, as mentioned earlier, bacon.

This makes a great weekend breakfast and will definitely give you enough energy to trudge all over Mt Tabor Park for a nice, if a bit chilly, 2.5 mile walk.

Spinach Gratin on the holiday table

Looking for something to do with a gallon of whole milk? Well, today’s a two-fer. Sure, the holidays are over and so is the time for cream and non-non-fat milk, but if you do choose to splurge anytime soon, here are two really good recipes to make and enjoy. Add a roast chicken to the mix and you have a whole cold weather meal.

The Spinach Gratin is from Ina Garten and the rice pudding is from Giada Delaurentis aka: Little Big Head.

Spinach Gratin
(works well halved)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
4 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
3 pounds frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
1 package button mushrooms, sliced (10-12 mushrooms)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms, saute until soft, about 15 minutes. Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the spinach to a baking dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and the Gruyere on top. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve hot. Leftovers? Use it to make a decadent spinach lasagna by alternating noodles, red sauce and your spinach mixture. Top with extra red sauce and mozzarella.

Next, this is an awesome dessert. The orange/vanilla combo gives it a really great dreamsicle quality. If you don’t have dark rum, you can use some grand mariner. The risotto rice makes it extra creamy.

Vanilla-Orange Rice Pudding
5 cups whole milk
2/3 cup Arborio rice or other short-grain white rice
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons dark rum or Grand Marnier liqueur
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

Combine the milk and rice in a heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean; add the bean. Bring the milk to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the rice is tender, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes. Mix in the sugar, alcohol, and orange peel. Discard the vanilla bean. Cook until the mixture thickens, 5 to 10 minutes longer.

Spoon the rice pudding into bowls. Serve warm or cover and refrigerate until cold, about 5 hours.

Snow!
Whoo! It’s snowing in Portland! We have about 2 inches so far and we’re supposed to have snow until 4pm today. How high will the accumulation be then? I made it into work (took 60 minutes instead of 30 on the Hawthorne bus). But, will I make it home tonight? Perhaps I will be walking. We’ll see. When I get home, I’ll have some snow photos of downtown and the SE!

I am really glad I came across this cooking event — Retro recipe Challenge (what a great idea for a monthly event, by the way), as I have in my collection, the perfect cookbook for an occasion such as this one. It’s the culinary classic, Saucepans & the Single Girl by Jinx Kragen and Judy Perry, 1965 (written before I was born — whee)! I purchased it used (duh), while going through an ironic housewife phase while in college, while being neither a housewife nor probably very ironic, as I liked to make casseroles in the dorm room kitchen during midterms (but that’s bedsides the point, I guess).

The inside cover proclaims, “A bright and bouncy new cookbook for the gal on the go — and on her own.” Huh. You can almost hear some sort of uplifting, Mary Tyler Moore-esque theme song in the background. Because you know Mary had this book. At least until Rhoda borrowed it and never gave it back. The bitch.

Further down the same inside cover, we are told:

…this swinging cookbook includes dishes that will dazzle the men in a gal’s life, recipes that will convince visiting relatives that she’s leading a safe and sensible existence, and hearty meals that will fill those inevitable empty evenings when she curls up with a head full of rollers and a good book…here is the ideal kitchen guide for the gal who wants to make the leap from filing cabinet to flambe…”

So, it’s for the girl who wants to join the circus?

The theme for this month’s Retro Recipe Challenge is Fall Foods. That is, “to cook up a recipe associated with fall and first published between 1920 and 1980.” When I think of Fall, some of the food items I think of are poultry, sticks of butter, heavy sauces and wild rice from a can. So, this Opulent Chicken sounded like a good match!

I did modify it slightly — the original did indeed call for a whole stick of butter which I just couldn’t in good conscience follow. I mean, the cookbook may be from 1965 but it is 2006 here. Instead I changed it to 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I also added onion and garlic just because, why wouldn’t a person add onion and garlic to this? The book also directed of the accompanying Wild Rice — “open a can, drain off excess juice, heat and toss with lots of butter.”

Uh, you could buy wild rice in a can? That’s a little bit scary and not at all appetizing. But, in keeping with the recipe’s sentiment, I used a boxed mix of wild rice pilaf. Near East brand, as we usually keep some on hand to use in a pinch and it certainly worked well here.

The verdict: well, it wasn’t half bad. The chicken turned out moist and the sauce had an overall tasty flavor. I think thyme would have been a better choice than tarragon but it was quite edible. I’d give it a solid 6.5 (on a scale of 10). I’m not sure it’s the meal I’d make to land a millionaire (what the book suggests it can do) or anything but one could certainly give it a try. jwa thought it was just “okay” — but then, he’s not a millionaire.

Opulent Chicken from Saucepans & the Single Girl
4 chicken breasts (I used skinless and boneless)
paprika (sweet, I assumed, not smoked)
salt pepper
1 stick of butter –that’s 1/4 pound (or you could use the previously mentioned 1 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp butter)
1 15-oz can artichoke hearts, drained
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (I used half white button and half shitake)
1 pinch tarragon (I guessed dried as the book didn’t specify)
3 tbsp flour
1/3 cup sherry
1 1/2 cups chicken bouillon (I assumed this meant chicken broth)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slather (that’s what it said, although I imagine “dredge” or “sprinkle with liberated abandon” would be a more apt description), the chicken breasts with the paprika, salt and pepper. Saute in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter (rather than a half a stick) until golden brown. If your skillet is oven-proof, remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm. If not, place the chicken in a casserole dish and cover with the artichokes.

Put the remaining butter (1 tablespoon or…the other half a stick) in the skillet and add the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Season with the tarragon and saute for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and add the sherry and broth. Simmer for 5 minutes and add the chicken back in, as well as the artichokes. Alternatively, if using a casserole dish, pour the mushroom sauce over the chicken and artichokes. In either case, you should end up with everything in one container, ready to go in the oven.

Cover and bake for about 20 minutes, until done (165 degrees). Now, the original recipe said to bake for 45 minutes — I can’t quite figure that out. They perhaps meant for the cook to use breasts with the bone in?

For a nice presentation, I sliced each chicken breast on an angle, then spread out on the plate and covered with some sauce. We had this with the wild rice pilaf and some pan roasted broccoli with lemon zest. So grab your saucepan and go get yourself a husband. Or something.

Thanks again to Retro Recipe Challenge –this is such a fun event!

Tagged with: RRC4.

Hello! I am back from Montana and will post about that soon. But, Sugar High Friday is due so that will have to come first. Oh, well — I can’t resist, here’s a quick picture.

Yellowstone River, Livingston, MT.

Okay, fine. Twist my arm. One more.

jwa and I in Sacajawea Park.

It was a great trip and it was nice to see my mom and my aunt. We ate at 2nd Street Bistro one night and I made Paula Deen’s insanely good pesto/sun dried tomato cheese ball (my name for it, not hers).

Now for the creme brulee…

This month’s Sugar Hight Friday is hosted by A Veggie Venture and the theme is a surprise inside. I came across this Emeril recipe and thought rice (in this case brown rice) in a creme brulee was a bit of a surprise. The surprise is also inside. Ha!

In addition, I am on a bit of a creme brulee kick lately, so that really sealed the deal when picking a dish to make for this event.

SHF23: Cinnamon & Brown Rice Creme Brulee
This recipe makes four creme brulees — double it up for eight.
2 cups half and half (or heavy cream)
1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 cinnamon stick
2 dashes of ground cinnamon (not more than 1/4 tsp)
1 cup cooked brown rice
4 tsp sugar (I used my trusty vanilla sugar)

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the half and half (or heavy cream) and the cinnamon stick. Stir bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and let sit 15 minutes and then remove the stick. The original recipe said to dissolve the sugar into the cream and mix the cinnamon into the yolk, but I assume they mixed those up as I don’t really know how you would mix a cinnamon stick into egg yolk. Do you?

Add two dashes of ground cinnamon to your sugar, (just a bit for an extra kick) In mixing bowl, whisk the sugar and cinnamon dashes into the yolks a little at a time, until all the sugar is absorbed and your mixture is nice and thick. Next, slowly whisk the hot cinnamon/milk mixture into the yolk. You can also temper it first but if you do it slowly, whisking constantly, you should be fine.

Stir in the rice and cool while you preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place the ramekins in a large oven-proof rectangular pan. Ladle the mixture into 4 (8-ounce) ramekins. Pour in enough water to come up about 1/2 of the side of each ramekin. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until the center is firm to the touch, but still soft (and the custard is between 165-180 degrees).

Remove from the oven and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Sprinkle a teaspoon of the sugar over the top of each custard. Using a hand-held torch, caramelize the sugar on top of each custard. Place on individual serving plates and serve.

You can also, like I did, use the broiler in your oven. Just don’t be watching The Soup and forget about the creme brulees for a couple of minutes while watching Joel’s tribute to Whitney and Bobby and their break-up. But, you know what? The darker spots on top were really very tasty! So, thank you, Whitney & Bobby!

The custard did get a little warm with the extra broiler time and thus became a little less firm, but the flavor was so amazingly good — almost like a cinnamony rice pudding with a hard sugar top (yep, it made a cracking noise when tapped with a spoon).

If you use a torch, your custard will not warm up at all and it will stay nice and cool while the sugar burns and hardens. If you do use your broiler, you may want to let it sit for a few minutes after coming out of the oven in case it does heat up a little — we just couldn’t wait that long before digging into it.

I imagine making this again in the colder months — so what if the custard heats up a bit then? I’ll just call it warm cinnamon rice pudding with a caramelized top!

Thanks again to Alanna and for hosting this month’s event at her blog A Veggie Venture!

Tagged with: SHF23.

Next week: Montana, a shrimp & pasta dish and more!

Wow. I am worn out. I spent all day yesterday rearranging the living room furniture. You see, I am starting a new job in two weeks and have some time off in between work. Yay! I love that. That’s my favorite part about a new job — the time before you start the new place but after you’ve stopped going to the old place.

But, moving a couch, chair, four bookshelves, an ottoman bigger than my car, another chair (a rocking chair that is in need of repair — all the way down to the basement) and a coffee table will make your back and legs hurt the next day, as I’ve discovered. Guess I will just have to hang around the house today and finish watching Sleeper Cell and, you know, take it easy.

The new look of the living room.

Anyway, I suppose I should talk about cooking. This is a dish we had last weekend. I found it online, perusing, hmmm, I don’t even know what now. This was on the Numi Tea Web site, in the Cooking with Tea section. It’s salmon marinated and cooked in green tea, soy sauce and sherry. I added some vegetables and some spinach-coconut rice and we had a great meal. The green tea, sherry and soy made a very tasty sauce. Nothing overpowered anything else — I couldn’t really pick out the tea, sherry or the soy separately. They kind of melded together in a pleasing new taste.

Green Tea Salmon
This will feed 3-4 people, so if there’s 2 of you, they’ll be leftovers for lunch!
1 lb salmon fillet
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp sherry
2 bags Green Tea of your choice — I did actually use a Numi tea — Monkey King Green Jasmine Tea
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsp sesame seeds
8 shitake mushrooms, destemmed and sliced
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tomato, diced
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
Garnish: sliced green onions and sesame seeds

Add the oil to a skillet over medium heat and add the onions, garlic and mushrooms and saute until they are soft and starting to get a little color. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Slice salmon into strips and marinate in the soy and sherry for 10 minutes. Transfer to the pan, (add a little more oil if it you are not using a non-stick pan). Simmer the salmon and the marinate over moderate heat until the sauce is mostly absorbed — about 6-8 minutes. If there’s some sauce left after 8 minutes, just go ahead and continue — it’s not a big deal.

In mug, pour boiling water over the tea bags and steep for five minutes. Squeeze out tea bags and stir the cornstarch into the tea. Pour tea mixture over salmon and cook another 5 minutes or until sauce slightly thickens. Add the mushrooms and onion back in, as well as the diced tomato. Combine gently and you’re done!

Here is the rice accompaniment I came up with. It turned out really well and I would definitely make this again for this or any number fish or chicken dishes that require some rice.

Green Coconut Brown Rice
1 can light coconut milk
water
1 cup loosely packed spinach
1 1/2 cups brown rice
salt
1/2 inch piece of ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

Add the coconut milk and spinach to a blender or food processor. You can also use an immersion blender. Blend until well combined and the coconut milk is light green. Pour into a large measuring cup and add water until you have 3 cups of liquid. Add to a pot with the garlic and ginger and bring to a boil with a little salt.

Add the rice, stir and turn the heat to low. Add the lid and cook until the rice is done — 35-40 minutes. Taste. Add more salt if needed. Serve with the salmon and sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions to garnish.

Spanish rice goes great with soy tacos, along with some refried beans. It’s just like eating at a Mexican restaurant. When I made this recipe, I didn’t add the Ancho chile powder until I added the broth but I think it would work very well to just add the chile powder with the onions and garlic. This recipe is based off of one I found on the Food Network site but I changed a lot of things so not really.

To make a whole meal, add black beans and kidney beans and there you go! Garnishes can include diced red onion, cilantro, green onions and fresh tomatoes. Oh okay fine, perhaps a little cheese…

Vegetarian Week: Spanish Rice (& Beans)
1 tbsp solid vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
2 tbsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp dried cilantro
1/2 tsp dried Mexican Oregano
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 a 15 oz can crushed tomatoes & juice
30 oz vegetable or chicken broth
Optional: 2 cans drained and rinsed kidney beans or black beans (or one of each)

Combine chicken broth and canned tomatoes and set aside until needed. Heat shortening in a large pot on medium-high. Add rice, stirring constantly.

When rice is golden brown, immediately add the onion, garlic and chili powder. Stir so it is evenly mixed. I don’t think I let mine brown quite enough, next time, I will not be quite so timid.

Quickly add the chicken broth (or vegetable broth!!! and tomatoes. Add the cilantro and the oregano.

Bring to a full boil, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Let simmer until rice is tender and most of broth has evaporated, about 20 to 30 minutes. (The remaining broth can be added if rice is still a little hard). If adding beans, add them to the rice now and stir to incorporate. Give the beans about 3-4 minutes to heat up with the rice. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

Another idea if making a meal of this dish, is to add some baby spinach (LMSI — last-minute spinach incorporation) to the rice and beans, then let it wilt down for a minute or two. Finally, remove rice from heat and leave covered until ready to serve.

These recipes for shrimp skewers and glaze, I found on Epicurious the other day and thought they looked really good. It was one of those, “Oh, I think we’re having that for dinner tomorrow” moments. It just looked all fresh and healthy and kind of light. Okay, this was in the pre-risotto phase but bear with me here.

The original recipe was for outdoor grill cooking but I used my grill pan. If you make these outside, it’s pretty much the same thing — 3 minutes per side. Oh and if you make these outside on the grill, you’ll want to soak your skewers in water for 30 minutes before assembling or use metal skewers.

Shrimp, Mango & Red Pepper Skewers
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried crushed red pepper
36 jumbo shrimp (about 2 pounds), peeled, tails left intact, deveined
2 red bell peppers, each cut into 12 pieces
2 firm but ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into cubes
twelve 12-inch bamboo skewers
Garnishes: Lime wedges and fresh, chopped cilantro

Mix olive oil, ginger, pepper flakes and garlic in large bowl. Add shrimp, bell peppers and mangoes; toss to coat. Alternate bell pepper, mango and 3 jumbo shrimp on each of the skewers. I ran out of bell pepper before shrimp and mango, so one of my skewers was just mango and shrimp. That was okay.

Heat a grill pan and cook shrimp until done, brushing with glaze during last 2 minutes. This will be about three minutes per side. I brushed with glaze before turning over on second side.

I found that my shrimp were not laying completely flat due to the mangoes and peppers. Therefore, they weren’t really cooking completely. An easy way to fix this was to cover the pan. That way, if they didn’t cook with direct heat from the pan surface, they cooked from the heat present inside the covered pan. They still got a few nice lines on them from the grill pan and turned pink so it worked out fine.

Cook the skewers in batches and keep finished skewers warm on a plate, covered with foil until ready to eat.

Guava-Lime Glaze
1 can guava nectar
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (I only had port wine vinegar so I used that — that’s why my glaze is a little dark)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice

Combine nectar, orange juice and vinegar in heavy medium saucepan. Boil until reduced to 2/3 cup, about 30-40 minutes. Keep a close eye on this as I almost had a boil over of epic proportions. Imagine cleaning some of that off your stove top. Yikes! Cool completely. Mix in lime juice. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

You can also, completely guilt-free, just buy a jarred marinade or glaze instead and use that on the shrimp.

Coconut Risotto
1 can light coconut milk
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 - 1/2 tsp Thai chili paste or red pepper flakes (to your taste really, if you like things spicy, go crazy, if not, be timid)
1 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 leek, trimmed, washed, and sliced
1 tsp lemon grass paste (if you don’t have this, don’t worry about it. You could also just simmer a piece of lemon grass in the coconut stock too)
1 cup arborio rice
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper to taste

This I decided to make at the last minute instead of plain coconut rice. Well, it wasn’t really at the last minute, as risotto isn’t really a last minute type of undertaking, but it was when I was getting everything together to start dinner. I realized I had everything to make risotto and just sort of winged it as I do love the creamy. As I mentioned before, this is one of the things I love most about risotto (besides the creamy) — once you get used to making it, you can pretty much just make recipes up.

So, for this version, begin by combining the coconut milk, chicken stock, lemon grass paste, chili paste (or pepper flakes) and the piece of ginger in a pot. Bring it up to a simmer. Next, in a heavy bottomed soup pot, add the olive oil and sauté the leeks and garlic until soft, about 3 minutes (medium heat). Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Begin to add the simmering liquid in 1/2 cup portions, stirring until all the liquid is absorbed before adding more. When you get close to the end of the liquid, fish the ginger out and discard.

Edited to add – Oh, if you have some white wine open, go ahead and start with a 1/2 cup of that into the rice (before adding and coconut-stock). I just didn’t have any white wine open and red wine didn’t seem like a good idea for this risotto.

You can cheat a little here and not stir constantly but try to stir every couple of minutes at least. This will allow you to get the shrimp going while still making the risotto.

You will probably go through most of the liquid. When you’re getting close to using it all, give the risotto a taste and see if it’s done. It should be creamy and soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on a plate and place 2-3 skewers alongside. Garnish with lime pieces and cilantro. Serve more chili paste on the side, if someone you know is like jwa, who is slightly insane and likes things crazy-spicy-hot. Laugh a little when he burns his mouth and begs for more wine.

This savory little number is from way, way back in December. Then jwa and I got stuck in California. Then it was 2006. Then I forgot all about it. It’s Risotto with Caramelized Onion, Brandy and Roasted Red Bell Pepper and it’s fabulous. I served it with some oven roasted broccoli on top for extra color and beta carotene. Mmm!

Risotto with Caramelized Onion, Brandy and Roasted Red Bell Pepper from The Best 125 Meatless Main Dishes cookbook — otherwise known as the “Risotto Bible”.
2 tbsp Olive Oil
2 medium onions, diced
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp brandy
1 medium red bell pepper, roasted
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups Arborio rice
Fresh pepper to taste

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, rosemary and salt. Reduce heat to medium low and sauté, stirring frequently for 20 minutes. Onions will get very limp and nicely browned. Stir in the brandy and keep warm until needed.

Roast the bell pepper under the broiler, turning as needed until all sides are blackened. Place in a plastic bag, seal and let steam for about 10 minutes. Peel skin off and slice into strips.

Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a heavy-bottomed pot and sauté garlic for one minute. Add the nutmeg and rice and stir to coat. Add the broth 1/2 cup at a time. Stir and wait until most of the liquid is absorbed to add more. You may not need all six cups but it will be close.

With the last batch of stock, add the onions, bell pepper strip and Parmesan. Add some freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Oven-roasted broccoli makes a nice side (or top). Here is that recipe is again.

Roasted Broccoli:
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Toss the broccoli florets with the olive oil, salt, and pepper on a baking sheet. Spread them out and then roast, until the edges are crispy and the stems are crisp tender, about 15 minutes. Check often, as it may only take about 10 minutes if your florets are small.

Next week: Stout-braised skirt steak, onion & mushroom soup, SHF17 and who knows what else, perhaps a nice, non-fattening house post!

When I was growing up, my mom and I would often go to this restaurant called Greek Islands and I would always get a bowl of the egg-lemon-chicken soup — avgolemeno. I started making a version of it last winter and I’m pretty happy with this recipe. Some of the recipes I found called for a whole chicken, while I decided to just use a few chicken breasts. I think it makes enough of a “stock” that way and I usually have chicken breasts on hand. A whole chicken? Not so much. I also like to shred the chicken meat, rather than dice it. Whichever way you choose to do it, this is a great, winter soup for a cold night!

Or a cold day, as I am bringing some leftovers from last night to work for lunch!

Avgolemeno
3 chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
10 cups cold water
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 leeks, cleaned and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2/3 cup arborio rice
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

In a 6 to 8-quart stockpot, combine the chicken, water, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; immediately reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and skim the foam from the surface. Add one of the leeks, one of the carrots and bay leaves. Continue to simmer with the chicken until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, and you have a stock — about 45 minutes to one hour.

Meanwhile, dice the remaining quartered leek and carrot. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, leek and carrot and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Remove chicken from the broth, and allow meat to cool. Strain the broth and skim the fat. (Place the broth in the refrigerator to make it easier to skim.)

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat apart and shred it. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Return the broth to high heat, add the rice and sautéed veggies and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is almost cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add the chicken and reduce the broth to a low simmer.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the lemon juice, eggs, and pepper. Temper the egg and lemon mixture: Ladle 2 cups of hot broth into a measuring cup with a pourable spout. While whisking, slowly pour the 2 cups of hot broth into the egg mixture. Pour the broth and egg mixture back into the pot. The egg and lemon will make the soup creamier and a lighter yellow color. Salt to taste.

If soup seems too thick, you can always add a bit of packaged chicken stock. Garnish with some fresh thyme or oregano leaves.