Tomato Sausage Risotto

 We've made this a couple of times, this time I made some revisions in the hopes that Nadia would eat it. Still no go. But David and I loved it anyway. It's possible Nadia would have liked it if she hadn't already decided she wanted to eat something else for dinner that wasn't on offer.

Based on: https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/tomato-and-sausage-risotto

• 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice (I used petite diced for smaller tomato bits)
• 3 cups water or chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed (I used ground turkey + homemade seasoning adapted, see below)
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning adapted
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoons black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (I used a shallot)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 bunch chopped flat-leaf spinach (10 to 14 ounces / 7 cups) (I used 1 cup green beans trimmed and in half instead)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional but ... highly recommended)
• 2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice) and 3 cups water or stock. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat. (Sounds like this is an optional step to heat, I did it because I had to thaw out the stock anyway)
2. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion or shallot and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Add sausage or turkey and seasoning. Cook, breaking up meat until it's cooked and opaque 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.
4. Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender, about 25 minutes total (you may not have to use all the liquid).
5. Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach (or green of choice), parmesan, and butter; season with salt and pepper if needed, ours didn't need any additional salt at this point. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional parmesan, if desired.

Broccoli Sauce with Oriecchette Pasta

 

Broccoli Sauce with Oriecchette Pasta

I've used this, and variations on the theme, for other pasta shapes, and often over ravs. I like the different add-ons at the end depending on the other parts of the dish. This is a real keeper. ;-)

★★★★★4.7 from 84 reviews

• Author: Sylvia Fountaine
 
• Prep Time: 5
 
• Cook Time: 25
 
• Total Time: 30 minutes
 
• Yield: 4
 
• Category: vegetarian main
 

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• 12 ounces broccoli florets- cut or broken into very small florets about equal size (about 6 cups packed)
• 8 ounces short pasta- orecchiette pasta, penne, rigatoni, etc
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 fat shallot, diced
• 6 garlic cloves- rough chopped
• generous pinch chili flakes ( Aleppo or Urfa biber is nice here)
• generous pinch salt and pepper, more to taste
• 1 teaspoon miso paste (or sub 1–2 mashed anchovies)
• 2 cups veggie broth or chicken broth
• 1–2 teaspoons lemon zest
• Garnish: grated parmesan or pecorino cheese,  lemon zest, truffle oil, fresh basil ribbons, toasted pine nuts, toasted bread crumbs, truffle oil or kalamata olives- all optional.

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Instructions

1. Steam small broccoli florets until very tender (easily pierced with a fork)and set aside.
2. Cook the pasta in 8 cups water with 1 tablespoon salt (measure),  Save a cup of hot pasta water when you drain.
3. In a large pan, saute the shallot and garlic and chili flakes in the olive oil, over medium heat until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the miso paste (or anchovy), then add steamed broccoli,  salt, pepper and the broth.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer and start breaking apart the broccoli with a metal spatula into tiny pieces. As it cooks it will get easier to break apart. You want the broccoli to basically melt down into a “sauce”.  Continue simmering gently on low heat until half of the liquid evaporates and it becomes the consistency of a thick sauce, about 10-15 minutes.
5. If it seems watery and separated, just keep cooking it down. It won’t be smooth- but just broken down and very very tender.
6. Add the pasta. Toss well. Add more hot pasta water to keep it ” saucy.” Add the lemon zest.
7. Taste for salt, adjust, adding more along with pepper, chili flakes. If you want more richness add another splash of olive oil (or pat of butter- my husband loves this). Stir in some optional pecorino.
8. Divide among pasta bowls and top with any of the garnishes you like. Grated Parmesan or pecorino  adds depth,basil ribbons add flavor, and a drizzle of truffle oil elevates.

Shaukat's Biryani recipe

 Made this today and even though we were missing several ingredients, it came out GREAT.

Original recipe below

We halved it.  Used 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (but 2 would have been better).

I marinated for 2 hours.  Longer would be better, I think, but it was great nonetheless.

We omitted the chaat masala, fried onions, Mehti, and all chili-related things.

RICE

Rice                             3 cups

Water                          10 cups

Salt                              3 TS

Bay Leaves                  2

Black Cumin                ½ TS

Green Cardamom       4

When water starts to boil, add couple TB of oil.

Cook rice until 50% done. Note: Rice is half done when the water just start to boil.

 

CHICKEN

Chicken                       2 lb. 3.5 lb. Garam Masala            1 TB Chicken Powder            “ Kashmiri Chili Powder   “ Ginger Paste                 “ Garlic Paste                   “ Red Chili Powder        1 TS Coriander Powder         “ Cumin Powder               “ Salt                                 “ Chaat Masala                 “ Dried Mehti                   “ Turmeric                     ½ TS

Citric Acid                   ¼ TS (tatri) Fried Onions               ¼ cup Black Cardamom        2 Green Cardamom       4 Bay Leaves                  2 Star Anise                   2 Black Cumin                ½ TS Tomato                       ½ cup finely chopped Mint                            ½ cup (50/50) Green Chilly                1 (50/50) Coriander Leaves        Bunch (50/50) Lemon Juice                2 TB Oil                                   6 TB

Mix all the ingredients and marinate it overnight.

 

Spread a very thin layer of 50% cooked rice on the bottom of the pot.

Spread all the chicken evenly on top of the thin layer of rice.

Optional: Spread 2” cubes of potatoes on top of the chicken.

Spread half of the rice on top of the chicken.

Spread ½ cup of yogurt (well beaten) over the rice.

Spread remaining rice on top.

Spread remaining mint, coriander leaves and chili on top.

Spread another 4 TB of fried onions on top.

 

Water              2 TB

Color               orange

Mix and spread over the rice to give color.

Make two to three table spoons of saffron milk and spread over rice to give fragrance.

Spread 2 TB of ghee on top.

Cover tightly and cook on medium high for 5 to 10 minutes.

Lower the heat and cook for 45 minutes.

Singapore noodles

 We made this one:  https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/05/singapore-curry-noodles-stir-fry-recipe.html

EXCEPT:

Some chicken thigh instead of pork.

I misread the recipe and removed the shrimp instead of continuing to add things to the stir-fry (note to self: don't do that next time).

I added garlic at the start of the vegetable stir-fry step instead of in the sauce.

Flavor was excellent.  Great mix of stuff.  The egg added a lot.  I had a bit of a problem with the rice noodle sticking but it was most likely because I skipped the rinsing step.  I softened and drained them, but didn't rinse.

Anyway, definitely worth making again!

Lovely Spring minestrone soup

 This isn't like a traditional minestrone soup, but it was very lovely!  It's got a great fresh Spring flavor.

We followed this recipe: 

https://www.feastingathome.com/spring-minestrone-soup-with-chickpeas/#tasty-recipes-20008-jump-target

Details:

- Only had 1/2 yellow onion and 1 bulb fennel at the start

- For vegetables we used:  Asparagus, sugar snap peas, 5-6 mushrooms quartered, 1 zucchini cut into large slices (halved, cut on bias).  It could have been good to have 1 chopped tomato in there, added at the same time as everything else at the end.

- The chick peas were a great compliment; wouldn't have been as good with a white bean.

- I ended up adding maybe 1.5 - 2 tsp more salt at the end (in addition to the 1/2 tsp at the start).  The stock I used was our own unsalted fresh made chicken stock.

- The 1C flat leaf parsley was important at the end.  Don't omit it!  The fresh tarragon was nice; I didn't use as much as recommended but probably should have.  I didn't have fresh thyme but that would have been good too.

- A good quality broth is important for this dish.

- I added juice from 1/2 lemon.  That was just about perfect.  definitely recommend doing this by tasting and adjusting at the end.

- They key to getting this right is NOT overcooking the vegetables.  I added them in the last 2 minutes of the cook-time for the pasta, and immediately took it off the heat after.  That was about perfect.

- I forgot to add any cheese, but shaved cheese would have been lovely as well.

Aji de Gallina 2 (the good one)

 Ok, this one we all agree is much better.

Based on https://www.thespruceeats.com/spicy-creamed-chicken-aji-de-gallina-3029517

Differences from the first try include:

- Chicken torn into strips instead of shredded

- Sauce is more "curry style"

I followed the linked recipe above except:

- Only used 1/2 large onion (because it seemed like a lot of onion)

- Added 1/2 tsp turmeric for color (and because it's good for you)

- I didn't use the chicken poaching water, but instead some chicken stock we made earlier.

- I cooked 3 tsp aji amarillo paste in the onion mix (instead of blending aji peppers).

The pro is:  great meal!

The con is:  takes a long time and uses A ZILLION kitchen things.

Note:  the potato and hard boiled egg really do add to it.

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Idea for next time:

Cube the raw chicken.  Add 1 C water (instead of chicken stock) to the sauce paste.  Then poach the chicken in the sauce, and hopefully it releases its liquid to further loosen it.