Friday September 24, 2010
Late Summer Roasted Heirloom Tomato Risotto and Rice Balls
Risotto is one of the simplest and versatile of dishes. And while I provide this recipe as a guide, keep in mind you can make risotto without the white wine, with just onions if you don’t have shallots, with just butter, just olive oil and with many different “add-ins.” To celebrate the end of summer, however, nothing beats ripe, fresh-from-the-vine tomatoes.
1 quart cherry tomatoes, halved or 4 cups tomatoes, quartered
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 basil, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2-2 1/2 T of butter or olive oil (I use both, 1+ T butter, 1+ T of olive oil)
3/4 cups of a mix of shallots and onions, chopped
(I used 2 shallots and one small onion)
2 cups of Arborio Rice
1/2 cup white wine
8 cups chicken stock
1 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Clean and halve the cherry tomatoes. Toss with olive oil, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Spread over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 25 minutes.
While your tomatoes are roasting, heat your butter and oil in a large saucepan or risotto pot over medium flame. When butter is melted, add your chopped shallots and onions. Saute for 2-4 minutes until translucent. Then add your arborio rice and stir to coat thoroughly with your butter and oil and then continue to saute for another minute or so. Add your white wine and stir until it is completely absorbed. Next we begin the process that makes risotto creamy. Add a ladle of your hot chicken broth and stir constantly until is is absorbed. Repeat until you have used most, if not all, of your broth; and when your rice is tender but not mushy. At this time, remove from heat, add the parmesan cheese, fold in your tomatoes (which probably came out of the oven 5 minutes or so ago) and serve immediately.
Makes 4 generous dinner servings or 6 side servings.
Risotto Cakes or Balls
(known as Arancini which means small oranges in italian)
2 cups of leftover risotto
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp minced parsley
2/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup corn meal/polenta
2-3 oz. mozzarella diced into 1/4” cubes
Vegetable oil - enough to coat your frying pan with about 1/4” of oil; and to add oil, as needed to fry the rice balls.
Mix risotto, eggs, parmesan salt, pepper and parsley. Blend the bread crumbs and cornmeal together. Mix 1/2 of the bread crumb and cornmeal mixture into the risotto mixture. Place the other 1/2 cup in a bowl to roll your rice balls.
I like to make small, bite-sized balls. Using a teaspoon, scoop a heaping teaspoon and insert a mozzarella cube into middle, roll into ball between your hands to make a tidy ball and then roll into bread crumb/cornmeal mixture. Once done, heat oil over medium-high heat but monitor it as you go. Add the rice balls, cook until golden brown on all sides, remove onto a paper towel to drain excess oil. Serve hot, warm or room temperature and ENJOY!!
Nana’s Lentil Soup
Lentil soup seemed to be an easy and often served soup growing up. Nana always doctored it up with what she had on hand - be it dried salami, pancetta etc. and it was always served with Pecorino Romano cheese. Simple, fast, healthy and delicious.
2 cups lentils, washed and drained
2 1/2 quarts water
1/4 cup dried salami, salt pork, pancetta (or not - tastes better with!!)
3/4 cup chopped carrots
3/4 cups chopped onions
1 clove minced garlic
1 bay leaf
Salt, pepper, parsley - to taste
Grated Pecorino Romano to taste
Place water and lentils in soup pot over medium heat. In another pan, saute dried salami, carrots, onions and garlic for about 10 minutes. Add to lentils with a bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes until lentils are tender. Serve with grated Pecorino Roman and ENJOY!
Curried Lentil Soup - my adult yearnings
While I loved Nana’s lentils, I discovered the world of exotic flavors when I went to college and beyond and grew to adore curry. I became addicted to a curried lentil soup at the Sultan’s Kitchen in Boston and have tried to mimic it’s taste. Here’s what I have come up with. I jazz it up with sweet potatoes and swiss chard to pack a complete anti-oxidant punch - and if you love curry - this is addicting soup!!
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onion chopped
4-5 minced garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
8-10 cups chicken broth
4 cups, sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups french lentils
1 bay leaf
2 cups of sliced swiss chard
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large soup pot, heat the oil, then add the onions and saute until translucent - 5 minutes or so. Next, add garlic, garam masala, curry powder and jalapenos. Cook until aromatic - about 1 minute. Add 8 cups of chicken broth, lentils and sweet potatoes. Bring to a high heat and boil, and then reduce to a simmer and cover for about 25 minutes. If you like a soupier consistency, this is when you might want to add more broth. Add the swiss chard, and season with salt and pepper and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes. Once cooked, finish with minced cilantro and serve to your heart’s content and ENJOY!!
Friday September 17, 2010
Today - it's all about sharing my pie recipe testing for Gina Hyam's Pie Contest in a Box. My friend Karen Lee came over to test "Grandma's Brown Sugar Pie". So here's how it went (the recipe will be at the end of this post):
The first task was to make the pie crust. According to the recipe I need 1/3 tsp salt. Now mind you, I am well-stocked in the kitchen gadget realm and finding a measuring spoon with a 1/3 tsp was not happening. For many, this would create a problem - it's obviously a little more than 1/4 and a little less than 1/2. If the crust doesn't seem to come out right - one might worry that they put in too little or too much. Next, the crust requires LARD. While I am a purist and love to use heirloom ingredients, I know LARD is not something you can just run out the grocery store and find. I would suggest an alternative if you can't find LARD.
The directions for making the crust were good. I am not sure most people would understand "smear" - I would elaborate: "use the heel of your hand to smear the dough against the side of the mixing bowl several times. This smearing action will create a multitude of small layers in the dough, causing to act almost like a puff pastry; the result will be a light, fluffy dough, rather than a dense, heavy one."
I think you should pre-heat the oven when you are rolling out the pie dough.
We found that the pie dough should be more like 11-12" round to amply flute the edges.
If you use a old-fashioned pyrex dish that isn't rated to go from fridge to oven - I'd be careful about chilling the crust before placing it in the oven.
We didn't like the looks nor the ingredients in the evaporated milk so we opted for the light cream because it is fresh!! And Karen jumped ahead and stirred the mixture ever-so-slightly until I read DO NOT STIR!! Oops - and will this be a problem?? Karen felt the need to stir because it wasn't clear that the brown sugar mixture should be "evenly" distributed - perhaps adding "evenly" would help.
We sprinkled nutmeg and cinnamon, but really - how much? We covered it but not densely - we weren't confident.
And, to the oven it went - but alas - where - middle? bottom? in-between? We went for the middle.
I'm no pie judge but the finished product was not satisfying. We were bummed!!
On the flip side - pie really does equal peace as Karen and I had a great 1+ peaceful hour together - mixing, chatting, giggling - so in my book - making pie is a bast and should be done with friends and family and served with love and laughter!!
Thank you Gina for the opportunity and Karen for the company!!
And on second thought - I am not sharing the recipe until the changes are made....
Friday September 10, 2010
It's that time - Preserving the Bounty month. And boy do we have some fun canning ahead of us. I have already canned salsa and tomato sauce. Next up ketchup. Don't you just love that all-American condiment? Horrified that high fructose corn syrup is in the list of ingredients of most store-bought brands? Well, here's your opportunity to make your own ketchup from locally grown fresh-from-the-vine tomatoes. And if you live in the Berkshires - come to my canning workshop - Thursday, September 16th @ 7pm - it will be all about KETCHUP!!!
The recipe:
For the spice pack:
4 tbsp celery seeds
5 tsp whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp whole allspice
3 cups cider vinegar
30 lbs Tomatoes, cored and quartered
4 cup chopped onions
11/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup pickling salt
From start to finish it can take up to 12 hours to make 7 pints of the BEST KETCHUP you've ever tasted!! So be prepared and plan your time accordingly - start in the morning and you'll be canning in the evening.
Make your spice pack by tying your celery seeds, whole cloves, cinnamon sticks, and allspice in cheescloth. In stainless steel saucepan combine the vinegar and spice pack, boil over high heat, remove from heat and let steep for 1/2 hour. Remove the spice mixture.
Wash and cut up tomatoes, place in stainless steel saucepan with chopped onions and cayenne and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Using a slotted spoon crush tomatoes to release juices. Boil until tomatoes are soft and then add the vinegar. Continue to boil until mixture begins to thicken.
In batches, press tomatoes through a fine sieve (what my grandmother used) or a food mill (what I use) which removes the seeds and skin. Return the skinless, seedless tomatoes with the sugar and canning salt to the saucepan over medium to high heat, stirring occasionally until the liquid is reduced to desired ketchup consistency. I'd like to tell you this is a short amount of time - but it isn't - it's taken 12 hours for one of my batches to come to desired consistency. But believe me you - IT IS WORTH every second!!
Meanwhile, you can be getting your cans ready - place cans on rack of boiling water canner, add water until the pint jars are about 2/3rds full. Cover and bring to a simmer. This process kills any bacteria. In a small saucepan, place the lids - the flat, round piece, cover and bring to a simmer. The screw bands do not need to sterilized.
Now you are ready to start canning your ketchup. One jar at a time, remove from canner, pouring hot water back into canner, place jar on flat heat-resistant surface. Ladle sauce into jar leaving about a half inch of headspace, wipe the rim and threads with a paper towel.
( This is important to make sure vacuum seal can occur). Lift a hot lid with your tongs (or madnet) and place on jar and then screw the lid with your fingertips until tight. Place back in canner with tongs. Repeat until done.
Cover all jars with additional water by an inch or so. Cover canner and bring to a boil. The boiling must be continuous and rapid for 15 minutes. Remove lid, let sit for about 5 minutes or so. Remove jars without tilting, place jars on a towel in a draft-free spot and allow to cool for 24 hours. Store in a cool dark place for up to a year.
I will post the video of the demo for next week's post!! HAPPY CANNING!
