Splendid Risotto

One thing that you probably don’t know about me is that I am an avid bird watcher, and this time of year is really fun to keep my eyes on the surrounding trees as it is prime Warbler migration, and lots of really interesting birds are making their way through Minnesota to their summer homes in Canada. For once tonight, I had an actual deadline in which to get dinner finished, as Mike needed to be somewhere to work on an after-hours project around 6:00pm, so since I was making risotto, I made a mental note of the time I would need and started to wrap up some loose ends before making my way to the kitchen.

Then it was like the Warblers came out in force, and suddenly I was looking here and there and all around the yard spotting almost a half dozen types of this springtime visitor that I have never seen before. Any good bird watcher keeps careful track of their sightings in their Life List, and I was feverishly thumbing through my cracked and worn out Sibley Field Guide in a desperate attempt to identify these new visitors and jot them down both in my birding journal and on my list. Yes, I am a bird nerd.

Then, after trekking back and forth between the front and back of the house with my binoculars close at hand, I happened to glance at the clock and realize it was nearly 5:00pm, Mike needed to be somewhere in an hour and I was making risotto. Clearly, I was bird-brained.

But it worked. And Mike left on time after an especially nice gleam in the eye from this lovely dish.

I love it when recipes evolve right under your fingertips. Take this risotto, for example. I usually make a pretty standard recipe with a nice coloring of saffron and a red pepper. Griffin will eat it with gusto; and despite the length of time it may take to actually cook, I am not a zealot about stirring my risotto so I don’t  chain myself to the stove whenever I want to make it. I just keep close by with a watchful eye. I have made risotto many a time, and I tell you, the absolute best results- at least for me- come when I simply pour in the liquid, mix it up and keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. All the intense and concentrated effort of stirring seems too much for a simple rice dish. Plus, there were Warblers on the loose and I wanted to see as many as I could. My binoculars and my knife lay side by side on the kitchen island; an odd pair, yes, but it’s Warbler migration and I am a little flighty.

This recipe was going to be just the basic red pepper risotto that we love, but in my fridge, pantry and freezer rummaging as the first addition of liquid was simmering away, I came across the remains of a container of grape tomato, a bag of washed and not as fresh as could be spinach, about an 1/8 of a bag of frozen peas and a can of salmon. And suddenly, ‘Ding!’ the light bulb of inspiration was lit and shining like a beacon, guiding my dish of normal and not so exciting risotto into the light of dinnertime excitement.

For the record, and to avoid sullen teenage angst, I allowed Griffin to take his portion of the risotto before adding in the tomato, spinach and salmon. Sometimes I just want to have a peaceful meal and not force the good stuff on him, y’know? And he loves peas, which is really kind of whacked for a 14 year old, if you ask me. My Dad won’t eat peas; none of my siblings eat peas, heck I even struggle with them sometimes (although I am getting much better!) but Griffin loves them, and that’s one more vegetable in his tummy.

Oooh, what a dish it was! The rice turned out beautifully and the addition of the spinach and tomato gave it a nice fresh flavor, complimented by the salmon. Thank goodness for that light bulb!

(jump for recipe and notes)

Springtime in Minnesota

We all know words words or phrases that instill in us a wonderful sense of joy and contentment. For my 14-year old, I think the word ‘Dinnertime!’ or the phrase ‘Steak for dinner!’ would be his top choice. I know lots of folks who would love to hear ‘Time for dessert!’ or ‘How ’bout some chocolate?’ or maybe ‘Want a glass of wine?’ (those would be some of my options)

Then there’s ‘Summer afternoon’; ‘A day at the beach’; ‘Vacation’ or maybe ‘April in Paris’.

In our neck of the woods, the words ‘Springtime in Minnesota’ are especially warm and inviting. The air is soft, the aroma of flowers blooming, fresh cut grass or the neighbors grill envelope you as you step out into the fresh green of May. Last night, as we walked after dinner, I was startled by a sound that I hadn’t heard in months; it was the wind tossing around the new leaves in a stand of trees. That ‘whoosh’ took me by surprise. It’s like the first night that I can have the windows open, catching the dewy night air; and as I lay sleepily with the sound of the night all around me, the faint chorus of the spring frogs reaches my ears as they hum, sing and trill the hours away. The ponds around our neighborhood provide an ample arena for this unique and calming spring lullaby.

Then there’s the garden. My first spring showing is always this gorgeous Star Magnolia.

It’s scent is subtle but exotic and lush. The pods are soft little woolly orbs that swell as the warming sun strengthens each April, then they simply burst forth, covering the bush in these multi-petaled blooms, filling the air with its wonderful scent. This bush is a strict measure of how quickly my garden greens up each year; one year it bloomed on April 13th after some early and warm temps, this year, it didn’t open up its showy flowers until April 26th. Cool nights and sunny days are its best friend; once the sun warms too much, the flowers wilt and die off quickly, replaced by a thick cover of dark green oval leaves.

And inside the house, hiding among the vines of the Hoya plant, is this gorgeous bloom.

This is such a beautiful blossom, and it’s most amazing feature is the scent it carries, an aroma that is surprisingly reminiscent of chocolate. The clusters are palm-sized, waxy and a light pink. The petals, as you can see, are star shaped, with an offset secondary arrangement in the middle. They last for maybe a week, then dry up and fall off. I have had as many as a dozen clusters on my two plants at once. The scent they leave in the air is really wonderful.

Aaaah, Springtime in Minnesota. For us northern clime dwellers, it is a sweet sound indeed.

Painting a thousand words

I got a heavy dose of lentil fever this week. Thankfully I had the motivation to toss this together prior to languishing on the sofa with yet another rotten head cold as then Mike had at least something reasonable to eat while I sputtered, hacked and dripped through a few miserable days. It was nice to be over with the misery in only a few days, as opposed to the 2 1/2 weeks that it took the last illness to heal.

Since my cupboard is overflowing with all sorts of little jars packed full of various indian-style spices, I tossed together a wonderfully aromatic blend of fenugreek, cardamom, fennel seed, cumin, turmeric, and coriander seed to flavor these little guys. A quick stir of spinach, a toss of chopped pistachios on top and a delightful bed of basmati rice below, it really needs no words, hence the title of this post.

And of course, never one to leave well enough alone, and prompted by Mike’s comment of ‘These are really good; not as spicy as I expected, but really good.’ I took the entire thing one step further and made a knock one out of the park side dish of vegetables so his eyes would gleam that special light that they have when he puts a fork in his mouth of something that makes him happy. You see, I love this man; and when he turns his eyes to me, full of that gleam that says ‘Wow my tastebuds are really excited!’ something happens to my heart. It melts. Like Jello on a hot plate melts. And I love that feeling. I work hard to make it appear.

Basically the same spice blend was tossed with a chopped yam and some leftover stir fried carrots, along with a nice dose of ground flaxseed-I love Mike’s heart and want to keep it healthy- it was all allowed to caramelize a little to deepen the flavor; then when it was placed next to the almost perfectly spiced lentils, well, the result was that oh so sexy gleam that I love. *sigh*

And that picture, my dear friends, I won’t share.

Indian Red Rice Pulao

Sometimes I feel like mentally flogging myself for not going with my gut instinct when it first urges me to do something, and on occasion, it really comes back to slap me good. Like seeing some ultra-bargain in any random store and thinking ‘Wow, I should get some of that.’ - insert any item into this scenario- household goods, clothing, shoes, books….you name it and I’m sure I have seen it on sale somewhere- only I stupidly pass it by, foregoing the finest selection of said item, only to hear about this great deal happening a day or two later upon which I return to claim my share only to find…..empty shelves, too small sizes or any number of other maladies sure to invoke a manic case of ’sad face’. The one thing I don’t pass by when spotting a bargain is food items. I have stockpiled our favorite bread when it’s super cheap, piling 10-12 loaves in my cart for the chest freezer; I will purchase certain cuts of meat if it’s a good deal, then devise menus to utilize it. I always scan the close-out shelves too. Who knows what you’ll find? A price cut on pasta? I’m there! With the way food prices are these days, a bargain at the grocer is not one to ignore.

Part of me wishes I had snapped up Robin Asbell’s cookbook the first time I saw it, as every thing I have made from this book is figuratively blowing the top of my head off in flavors, textures and ease. I could have been delighting in it for months now! But I didn’t, so I need to make up for lost time.

Spring has finally arrived in MN, and with it, the warmth and sunshine. My grill beckons and I have the need to find a side dish worthy of two major attributes; it could be considered a meal for my veggie loving spouse so that the grilled meat item isn’t filling the prime spot on the plate, and of course, it should be simple enough to keep me sane. Futzy stuff is out. When the sun is bearing down on my pallid winter skin, the last thing I want to be doing is futzing in the kitchen. With bags upon bags of grains spilling out of my cupboards and freezer, I turned, once again and with eagerness, to Robin.

And again, with one bite, there went the top of my head. This rice dish is so fragrant, colorful, delicious and unique that I almost tossed my perfectly grilled boneless pork chop onto Griffin’s plate in order to fully indulge in it’s burnished delights; tender rice, chewy currants and pillowy chunks of cauliflower. Alongside stalks of gently steamed, tender asparagus, it made for such a lovely plate too, with it’s vibrant and sparkling color.

I suppose I should have allowed Griffin to indulge fully in the pork; he was so excited to see it, and the asparagus that he was nearly dancing around the kitchen in delight, but I do love me some delicious, grilled meat, even with this rice dish being so tempting. Maybe another time…..

Thank goodness for leftovers too!

(jump for recipe and notes)

Szechuan Chicken and Red Rice Salad

In the back of my mind I have been aware that there is a whole range of rice varieties out there that our mild midwestern palates have yet to conquer; grains like black or red rice, but I never really thought about it much past ‘Hmm…. wonder what that tastes like?’ and then of course, it leaves my head just as fast and as obscurely as it entered, leaving me staring at my white and brown basmati trying to decide which one would work best for our dinner.

Then I got acquainted with Robin’s cookbook, and suddenly I am madly buying all kinds of grain-y goodness for my pantry, including a small sack of Himalayan Red rice. And when I spied this Szechuan Chicken recipe, and it’s teaser that says ‘If you have szechuan peppercorns, crush them gently to use in this recipe for their unique and tongue-tingling taste’; I hear my brain say ‘Hey! You’ve got those peppercorns!’ so….again, recipe kismet, my favorite impetus to making the next greatest thing ever to go on a fork.

But seriously, anything with ‘Szechuan’ in the title gets my attention. I am all for heat, spice and tongue-tingling, being one of those people who doesn’t mind associating ‘pain’ with ‘eating’ . If it gets my eyebrows sweating, I’m all for it. This recipe isn’t quite to that point but it does have a pleasant little bite to it, and I’m certain it would be just as delicious without the szechuan peppercorns. What it is, basically, is the make-up of a noodle salad that is served, with surprisingly good results, over a bed of rice. Previous glances at cold rice recipes left me, well….cold. They did not appeal to me. From this recipe, I have changed my tune.

The rice is a pretty dark red color, one that translates well to a gorgeous hue of burgundy in the water as it cooks, splattering ample and deep red blotches all over my lovely- but thankfully, not the cleanest- white stove. I seriously need to pay more attention sometimes when I cook some items; just because the recipe says it needs to cook for 25 minutes does not mean that I can walk away from it without the potential for disaster. The grains have a chewy texture and a mild taste, a perfect combination for creating an endless array of delicious pilafs. The small bag, however, held slightly more than two cups- cost wise, it’s not cheap- so unless I find a bulk option for this item, it might not make as many appearances on my table as I would like.

This salad, though, is light and refreshing with it’s spicy bite, and an easy vegetarian option in omitting the chicken, possibly substituting it with some good seared tofu for protein. Fresh crunchy vegetables and a nice peanut garnish rounded out the overall flavor profile, which intensified in the fridge after a day or two.
I will have to keep this in mind for a good summertime option.

We are still sort of waiting for that consistent and lovely spring weather in MN- it’s been nice, but still not a regular occurrence, and right now, apparently it’s Monsoon Season with endless and hard rain that is filling my backyard with a lovely small river. If I see the squirrels building an ark, I might start to get a little nervous. Nevertheless, it is getting brilliantly green and the garden is trying it’s hardest to come to life.

(jump for recipe and notes)

Mexican Quinoa makes it a Wrap

I am in luuuuve… seriously, with this whole grains cookbook I bought by Minnesota chef and author Robin Asbell. I have had my eye on it since it came out, paging through it here and there and thinking about adding it to my collection but something stopped me every time; I made a pledge to myself that I wasn’t going to buy another cookbook unless I was certain that I would utilize it for more than one or two recipes. Then I spent several delightful hours in the company of an old friend who opened a really amazing cooking school locally, and there sat Robin’s cookbook, taunting me yet again. This time I caved, and am I ever glad that I did.

I fully blame this amazing cookbook for my frenetic travels around the Metro area as of late in search of the necessary grains needed to complete these recipes, despite the jaw-dropping gas prices. Who would think that Farro would be so hard to find? Well…..me, I guess; it helps to know where to look and I thank Carolyn and (not-the-author) Robin for pointing me towards Whole Foods. Our local organic grocer, Fresh and Natural, did not carry it, and silly me did not even consider WF. Silly ol’ me!

This book is now littered with tabbed pages indicating the recipes I am dying to try, and my cupboard is stuffed to near overflowing with little bags of whole grains- two types of Barley, MIllet, Farro, Quinoa, Red Rice and Couscous. How did this whole grain epiphany happen, you say? I have been reading a lot about whole grains and their superb health benefits, and following some recipe sites dedicated to the use of these grains, which, quite frankly, has been an eye-opening and delightful lurking experience. I was really entranced by what I was seeing. This is also a hot-button topic in food now, and in trying to pay more attention to my health and making a big change in what goes into our bodies, it naturally fell in line as an important step.

And I couldn’t be more excited about it too.

The first recipe I tried was a Mexican Quinoa,

which incidentally, was the base of another wonderful looking recipe for a Roasted Vegetable Wrap.

The quinoa was a quick and simple recipe; everything I needed to do was finished in the time it took to cook the quinoa on the stove, which was about 15 minutes. I could have eaten this plain for my dinner without one shred of complaint, it was so flavorful and delicious; I was glad that I only needed half of it for the wraps. It made me excited for my lunch the next day. Griffin did try it but was turned off by the texture, and ended up making himself a grilled cheese sandwich. The wrap came together easily, and was light and delicious. The roasted vegetables and quinoa also made for a terrific combination to just eat on it’s own.

I sure love the relative ease and quickness of recipes like this; it makes for a more pleasant afternoon when I can do something that I really love….like flying my kite…..for as long as the wind will allow.

(recipe after the jump)

I now have a 14-year old!

Happy Birthday Griffin!!!!

April 1994- Two weeks old (with my Mom). He could fit on my forearm, he was so tiny.

Happy birthday, young man!!

Ancho Corn Chile Sauce

To say that I have an healthy obsession with food magazines is like saying the sun rises each morning- it’s just a given, for sure and I don’t fight with myself about it anymore. At one point I think I topped out at receiving seven or eight every month, but these days I keep it to a bare minimum; I get Food and Wine- definitely a love/hate relationship on this one but I keep coming back for the recipes, and Saveur which is like arm-chair traveling to a new place each month to learn of the authentic cuisine there.

Then I sometimes get itchy fingers when browsing the magazine shelves anywhere I might be….it doesn’t matter; grocery store, bookstore, convenience store. If there is a food magazine on display, I must at least browse through it. Barnes and Noble is the worst; they have dozens of magazines that I have never read, and some I have never even heard of, so standing in front of those shelves, to me, is an exercise in high restraint. But it really helps to keep my priorities in line with the food mags: one thing that I always look for is visuals. I need visuals- I can’t have a cooking publication without photos. I need to see what I am supposed to be making, otherwise my brain tends to taunt me that I am not doing it right. And when I start questioning everything I do, I often end up wanting to curl up in a ball under a blanket. That isn’t tantamount to cooking, I assure you.

So in picking up a magazine called Cuisine for Two the visual need was satisfied. Every recipe had ample and terrific color photographs, and with its handy index on the back page, I could look over the recipe content quickly to decide if it was worth the cost. Not even 1/4 of the way through the index and I tucked the magazine under my arm. Once home, I probably pulled out over half of it and into my ‘To Do’ book they went.

This was an Ancho Chili Chicken, and I think it was one of the first recipes that caught my eye.

And despite my best attempt on Picnik to lighten up these photos and make them a bit more appealing, they still turned out dark and not-so-hot. C’est la vie…..I can’t be perfect all the time or you might hate me.

Chicken pieces are tossed with cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, seared in a hot pan and the covered with sauteed onion, tomato, garlic, and tomato. You toss shredded dried ancho chile, and a corn tortilla as well. It helps with the final thickening of the sauce.

Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove it to a plate and blend the sauce smooth. On a whim, I added in about 1/3 of a bag of frozen corn for extra flavor.

(the photos look like marinara….I swear, it’s ancho chile sauce! Really!)

I served it with yellow rice and black beans, which was a suggestion right on the recipe page. The sauce was excellent stirred into the rice. The sauce was tangy but not at all hot and there was a pleasant sweetness to it from the added corn. The recipe made a lot of sauce, and it tasted wonderful with a tortilla chip.

As a bonus inspiration with the leftovers- and because I love turning leftovers into a whole new meal- I made a veggie style burger out of the rice and beans. I scooped some of the rice into a bowl, added an egg that was mixed with a spoonful of the ancho corn sauce and tossed breadcrumbs into the bowl to hold it all together. Pressed into patties with some sunflower seeds for crunch and cooked in a hot skillet, they were a wonderful light meal. A little lime-ancho cream and guacamole made them perfect.

(Now there is a better photo!! jump for recipe and notes)

Foods worth repeating

The only reason that I will never make a dish twice is if I happen to come across a recipe that is so bad even my talents in the Extreme Recipe Makeover department couldn’t possibly fix it. This doesn’t happen that often. As much as I love variety, and I love trying new recipes and fun ingredients (I still can’t find farro for the Farro Risotto recipe I want to make- guess I gotta buy online!) I tend to stand on the side of caution when it comes to something new. I really prefer to know, really know in my food brain that this new something or other is going to be a real winner, and I will stick to a few trusted sources for recipes because I am certain of the integrity behind them, and in utilizing them have never been faced with what should have been wonderful, but is now staring at me from a bowl in my kitchen and plainly mocking me saying ‘I am NOT as good as you thought, am I?’ My recent astronomical disappointment with Red Curry Peanut Noodles from a F&W magazine still rings loudly in my head. Even after perusing the recipe and re-working it in my mind, I couldn’t purge the plain boring taste of those noodles and decided that it wasn’t even worth the time and effort of ERM, so into the recycle bin it went. I’ll stick to my Dan-Dans.

We utilize repeats in our kitchen quite often, but it’s more that the dish is a variation on a theme than the exact same recipe made again. We make turkey burgers with a wide variety of items mixed into the meat; we make pasta and pizza, each with it’s own personal stamp. Fish gets different treatments, chicken is always dressed up in it’s unique way and pork becomes a palette to which I apply any mix of glorious taste sensations.

Speaking of pork, and Food and Wine magazine, last year, when the F&W 100 Tastes for 2007 landed on my doorstep, I was tempted to embark on a quest to cover as many of the tastes as I could. It was fun; expensive but fun, and I managed a good deal of tasting and sampling before I ran out of options that didn’t involve extensive domestic or overseas travel. One of the items was Pork Fried Rice, and although that in itself wasn’t such an undertaking, it called for that deliciously chewy and sticky Asian Barbecue Pork, and as luck would have it, a current issue of Cooks Illustrated magazine arrived about the same time with a typical CI recipe (read into this, please: typical CI recipe = long and complicated) for the pork. Despite all the work, the result was amazing, and the rice was well-received.

So I decided to make the pork again. To me, something this delicious bears repeating, if only to offer the tantalizing recipe to someone who may have missed it before.

It’s futzy, time-consuming and most likely over the top, as all CI offerings tend towards, so this isn’t your typical quick-in-a-flash offering; plan for it, certainly, but should a plateful of sizzling, ruby red garlicky hoisin and soy sauce flavored meat be right up your carnivorous alley, please try this at least once. Be ready as it comes out of the broiler to stand over it with a fork. It shouldn’t wait for it’s well deserved adulation.

(find out more…..)

Kona Kampachi two ways

One good thing about blogging, besides the endless supply of like-minded friends on line, is the occasional contact from some company interested in talking to you about blogging, interviewing you for a magazine, or getting their product into your hands. In the past six months I have been featured in two local magazines that did articles about food blogging, and just recently was contacted by Kona Blue and offered a shipment of Kona Kampachi. Free food? I’m there!

My mistake was thinking I was going to get ’samples’ of this fish. What arrived was a huge box that held two very large fish fillets, smelling of the ocean and salt water breezes. I was glad to be wrong for once. I cut the fillets into four pieces and froze three of them. I split the one that I left out and still got a very generous portion of fish for dinner.

I sprinkled them with olive oil, lime juice and salt and pepper. For the first tasting of this highly touted fish, I wanted something simple so the flavors could come through. This is a remarkable fish; full and rich in flavor and loaded with Omega-3’s, a high-grade sushi quality Hawaiian yellowtail that is ecologically farmed and sustained. The texture is smooth, almost like good quality butter, the appearance looks similar to haddock but the taste is unlike anything I have tried. It’s similar to salmon in its richness, with a top-notch mouth feel. I was suitably impressed.

It can be eaten raw and cooked in any manner; the high fat content makes it near impossible to overcook, and even my piece, having seared in a hot pan for about 10 minutes or more, was still somewhat undercooked in the thickest part. We loved it though- well, two of us did; Griffin took his obligatory bite and scowled all through it, finding his taste more towards leftovers of his requested tuna and pasta from a previous meal- but Mike and I found a great deal to enjoy about the fish.

The fish was seared in a very hot pan, using only the oil I drizzled over the top as a cooking medium. I let it sit on one side until it was nearly cooked through before flipping it over.

I made a cilantro-lime compound butter to eat with it, and some almond parmesan cous-cous as a quick side dish. This meal came together in less than 15 minutes and was delicious. I simply took sliced almonds that I had on hand and chopped then fine, browning them in a skillet before adding the cous-cous and water, then stirred in parmesan cheese when it was finished. Fresh thyme, or maybe a little sage would have added a nice herb touch to it. The butter was a simple mix of lime juice, minced cilantro, salt, pepper and a little garlic powder. Quite honestly, this fish needed very little to make it delicious.

A second go-round of the fish occurred on a quiet kid-free night. This time around I created a pistachio crust for it, and baked it in a hot oven.

Crushed pistachios, ground flaxseed and browned panko crumbs made for a nutty, fragrant topping, and the fish fared just as well being baked as it did in a hot skillet. I lightly sprayed the fillets with cooking oil then pressed the crumbs well onto the fish; another light spray of oil over the top of the crumbs helped the browning in the oven. I had cut the thick fillets down so they were thinner, and the hot oven had them ready in about 10 minutes. We had a poblano-corn relish on the side and more cous-cous; once again it was a really delicious and quick dinner.

For now I believe that Kona Kampachi is only available by mail from the online source. I don’t know the shipping cost, but the fillet portion I received had a reasonable price tag. It would be nice to be able to find this product locally, but until the love spreads and the fish becomes more available in the mainstream, I may have to either covet the remaining two portions or pony up the cash to get more; I really loved this fish and really appreciated the opportunity to try it at home. Thanks so much, Kona Blue!