Herbed Risotto

[herbed risotto]

Ever since the move to Singapore in October last year, things have been extremely eventful for us. Friends and family visiting, vacations abroad, the holidays… Even though the kitchen has been quite seasoned for day-to-day meals, I haven’t seen myself having extra time for baking cakes and whipping up a special meal from a cookbook, let alone styling and photographing food! Though there was an occasion when I had the inspiration to improvise an herbed risotto recipe I have.

The result is the picture above, which I’ve taken the effort to photograph a blog entry. The only misgiving was that I have procrastinated this post for two months, do forgive me. I’ve had an anonymous reader asking me where I have been and an aunt from London who inquired me of my whereabouts as she has not received any blog updates from me. So I thought I’d better pull my act together and get this post out. Here's the recipe...

Herbed risotto

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
1 cup spinach (you can substitute with another vegetable. I've used pumpkin and it was great!)
3/4 Arborio rice
2 cups hot chicken stock
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary (and, or other herbs)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet. Sauté onion until fragrant for 1 minute. Add vegetables and sauté for 2-3 minutes until rather tender. Add rice. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add stock, salt and pepper. Cook, covered until the rice is tender on the outside and chewy inside. While the rice is cooking, sauté the mushrooms in olive oil. When the rice is done, fold in the mushrooms, cream, herbs and cheese. I garnished mine with toasted black sesame seeds for some visual interestingness!

adventure with vongole clams

[one bag of vongole clams; two ways of serving]

My foray into Fishes one evening after work led me walking away with a bag of vongole clams flown in that very morning from Italy. I must say I was definitely in the mood for trying something new. With the enthusiastic assistant giving me a classic Italian recipe off the top of his head, I couldn't resist paying premium price for these tasty morsels from the sea.

I was busy thinking about how I should go about with this project -- well, following a recipe IS a project for me since I hardly ever cook with a recipe -- when T went, "don't you have to like soak those clams in salt water for a couple of hours?"

This coming from someone doesn't cook and who has yet to make me the risotto that apparently was the one star dish honed during college days. I was skeptical but dished out my collection of cookbooks right away in search for the proper way to deal with my clams. Voila, sure enough, there it was, instructions to soak clams in salt water for a few hours to naturally release the sand and impurities trapped inside the shells.

I was thinking that one big bag of clams for a simple pasta dish for two just doesn't do it. I could save one third of it for another new culinary experiment I thought. So the next day I decided to tackle the signature spanish dish -- la paella. Truth is I have been procrastinating about putting the paella pan that came with the rental apartment to good use. And with Mark Bittman a.k.a. the Minimalist at the New York Times publishing a simple paella dish that cuts the laborious steps of the traditional cooking method and ingredients used down to just one third, I couldn't help but got hooked on the idea of putting aspirations into action.

The end result was an improvised version from the combined wisdom of the Minimalist and Penelope Casa, who has a classical Paella a la Valenciana in her cookbook - the Foods and Wines of Spain. Ingredient-wise, mine has tomatoes, chicken, and clams. We had a German vistor that day from Singapore and he had the honor of being the "official taster" for my ambitious tryout. Wasn't too bad I reckon. Everyone had a nice share of the dish that evening.

If you want to try it out yourself, here are the recipes.

Tagliatelle alla Vongele

4 large garlic cloves, peeled and diced finely
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
30 vongole or little neck clams (about 3 1/2 pounds)
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper (chili) flakes, plus extra for serving
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 cup of white wine
12 ounces linguine
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
sea salt and freshly milled pepper

Soak clams in salted water for a few hours before hand.
Cook pasta in a plenty of salted water. While pasta is cooking, in a wok or large skillet add half the oil and all the butter and saute garlic till fragrant.
Add washed clams and saute on medium-high heat. Add salt and black pepper and pepper flakes. Saute for another minute. Add white wine and keep stirring and let sauce reduce. About 2 mintues later (when majority of clams are open) add chopped parsley and cooked pasta.
Serve right away garnished with more pepper flakes and salt to taste and the remaining olive oil.


Quite Easy Paella

Serves 5

4 cups chicken bouillon
Half a whole onion
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into thick wedges
4 scallions, chopped
1 medium onion, minced
3 clove garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp of saffron
2 teaspoons Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika), or other paprika
2 bay leaves, crumbled
Chicken (wings or legs)
30 clams
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2.5 cups Spanish or other short-grain rice
Minced parsley for garnish.
Lemon wedges for garnish

Heat broth with the saffron, pimentón and whole onion. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Remove onion and measure broth -- you need exactly 4 cups.
Preheat oven to 420 degrees. Put tomatoes in a medium bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Toss to coat.
Cut chicken into small serving pieces -- Dry pieces well and sprinkle with salt. In a metal Paella pan, with about a 15 inch base, heat the oil. Add chicken pieces and fry over high heat until golden. Remove to a warm platter.
Add the chopped onion, scallions, garlic, and pimentos and saute until the onion is wilted. Stir in tomato paste, saffron if you are using it, and paprika and cook for a minute more.
Add rice to the pan and stir to coat it well with the oil. Sprinkle in the chopped parsley and the crumbled bay leaves. (You can make in advance up to this point.)
Stir in hot broth and the wine. Salt to taste. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, over medium high heat about 10 minutes.
Bury chicken in the rice. Add clams and mussels, pushing them into the rice, with the edge that will open facing up. Put tomato wedges on top of rice and drizzle with juices that accumulated in bowl. Put pan in oven and roast, undisturbed, for 15 minutes.
Check to see if rice is dry and just tender. If not, return pan to oven for another 5 minutes. If rice looks too dry but still is not quite done, add a small amount of stock or water (or wine).
When rice is ready, remove from the oven and let sit on top of the stove, lightly covered with foil, for about 10 minutes. To serve, decorate with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Aubergine lemon linguini with chicken

[A healthy fusion pasta dish]

Entertaining is a form of art, albeit a tad challenging. You ought to present something completely innovative (from the guest's point of view) yet at the same time quite effortless to put together (from the host's point of view). Friends who have been invited over for dinner might know that one of my star dish repertoire is this aubergine lemon linguini with chicken.

This pasta dish combines a few distinctive spices like lemon zest and ginger, yet blends them so well into a flavorsome meal, completely balanced on the healthy diet scale. If you eyeball the ingredients and cooking directions below, you might notice a Mediterranean-Asian fusion thread. Happy entertaining!

Aubergine lemon linguini with chicken

1 aubergine/eggplant cut into 4 or 8 parts length-wise and subsequently into quarter-inch thick 'triangle' wedges.
Half a chicken breast thinly sliced across the grain into strips
Kikkoman soy sauce
2 tablespoon lemon zest
2 teaspoon grated ginger
2 tablespoon finely diced onion
1 clove ginger minced
1 teaspoon tarragon leaves
1 teaspoon black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Durum wheat linguini cooked al dente

Marinate chicken strips with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and a dash of pepper and salt. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients.

Put water to boil for pasta. Once water is boiled, add salt, and wait for water to reboil again. Add linguini. (If your pasta requires 11 minutes to cook, you could coincide cooking time so that both are done at the same time.)

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on hot skillet and add onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté for one minute and add chicken. Stir-fry on high fire till cooked for a few minutes and add aubergine. Cook on high fire for 3 minutes till softened, while adding pepper, 2 tablespoon soy sauce, tarragon, in between.

Once aubergine is medium-soft, add cooked chicken, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon pasta liquid and simmer covered for 2 minutes.

Combine cooked pasta with lemon juice. Arrange aubergine chicken on top and serve. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with pepper.

*This is an entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Melissa at Cooking Diva.

Herbed Risotto with Portobello Mushrooms

[First attempt at Risotto]

Okay, so the story was that I went completely berserked with risotto. Alright it was my first time making it, but rarely would I be completely satisfied with my own cooking (read perfectionist) let alone being so happy with it that I made it again and again for THREE consecutive days.

What is this?? Just rice in a creamy sauce? Well, surely not! This concoction has all the wholesome goodness of raw organic herbs and vegetables, namely rosemary, basil, tomatoes, portobello mushrooms, and red onions. And of course, imported Italian Arborio rice and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

The combination of fragrant herbs and tomatoes gives this dish a very light and airy taste. Completely flavorsome and fresh. With a recipe this uncomplicated; you will learn it by heart once you make it the first time. And maybe you’ll be remaking it again and again with your own variations for three consecutive days! Without further ado, here’s the easy recipe.

Herbed Risotto with Portobello Mushrooms
(adapted from Intercourses, an aphrodiasiac cookbook)

1 medium red onion finely diced
1 tablespoon butter
¾ cup Arborio rice
2 cups of hot vegetable stock
1 extra red and plump tomato diced
1 tablespoon of freshly chopped thyme
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil
2 medium-sized Portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
¼ cup crème fraiche
1.5 teaspoon olive oil
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
a generous amount of freshly ground pepper
salt to taste

Sauté onion in butter till fragrant and softened. Add Arborio rice and sauté for 1 minute. Add stock and let simmer with a lid for however long the packaging says it takes to cook rice (usually about 10 minutes.) Meanwhile, sauté mushrooms with olive oil for 2 minutes. When the rice is chewy and done, fold in the rest of the ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste.

*Style with more herbs and a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

This is an entry for Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.

French Stories 3: Chez Zol, Le Cordon Bleu

[Sautéed Tuna Steaks with Daikon Salad]

The neat thing about Spain, even to the envy of its French neighbors, is that Christmas holidays span an entire three-week. At the end of the first week of January, I was still savoring the last bit of my get-away in Provence. The first host that I’ll dedicate this post to is Zol, a guy known for both his musical and culinary talents.

For lunch that day, in his apartment in a town right outside of Marseille, Zol, Le Cordon Bleu, whipped up a simple lunch with incredibly healthful proportions and surprisingly matches the four criteria I look up to in a good meal: taste, texture, nutrition and presentation. The entrée was sautéed tuna matched with a light and tasty daikon salad. Next up, the plat principal was seared scallops served with a pasta made with spinach.

I love how he served the tuna by dividing the steak into four elongated pieces elegantly presented in a rectangular Japanese-inspired plate. It went really well with the Daikon salad that was simply grated and seasoned with a dash of Chinese dark vinegar (made from fermented glutinous rice) and some light soy sauce. Zol added that this Chinese dark vinegar has a very similar taste to balsamic vinegar, which lends a zesty touch that plays well with the lightly sweetened flavor of the grated daikon.

We finished the meal with a plateau de fromage and dessert. A neighbor upstairs had presented him with a decorated cellophane bag filled with home-baked goodies. HE made them all from scratch! We happily walloped them down as we chatted over a cup of green tea.

Here are the imagined and improvised recipes of the dishes described above:

Sautéed Tuna Steaks with Daikon Salad
2 tuna steaks
1 teaspoon grated ginger, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
a dash of white or black pepper
1 small daikon radish, peeled and grated
Chinese dark vinegar

Combine ginger, pepper, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Marinate fish with mixture for 5 minutes.

In a heavy-bottomed nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook for 1.5 minutes on each side. Fish should not be completely opaque.

Serve with a Daikon Salad. Simply grate Daikon radish and place in individual mounds. Season each mound with a dash of Chinese dark vinegar (or balsamic vinegar) and some light soy sauce.

Seared Scallops with Pasta

Recipe for 2:
12 scallops
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon curry powder
Juice of half a lemon
1 tablepoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Italian Pasta (Spaghetti or Penne Rigate)

Bring a pot of water to boil. Meanwhile, season scallops with soy sauce, curry powder and 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and a dash of salt and pepper. Set aside.

When water is boiling, add a pinch of salt. Once water gets to boiling point again, add pasta. Follow instructions on the package. Real Italian semolina pasta usually takes about 12 minutes to cook.

Heat pan over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add a little olive oil and wait till it heats up a little. Gently place scallops on pan and space them out a little. Do not move them as it might ruin the searing process. Cook each side for 2 to 3 minutes, until scallops are browned. Turn them over, and repeat the process.

When scallops are cooked and opaque, deglaze the pan by adding the rest of the lemon juice over the scallops. Toss scallops and accumulated pan juices with freshly cooked pasta. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.