Prawn, Leek & Lemon Risotto

I've been remiss with my blogging over the last few months - definitely not posting as regularly as I would like to, and it's been ages since I've posted anything over at I Heart Cooking Clubs.  I miss my friends and, since it's pot luck week this week, I thought I'd join in with a quick and easy Donna Hay dish that's become a bit of a favourite of mine.

Now let me preface this by saying that I've always been very firmly been of the view that a baked risotto will never be as good as a traditionally prepared version, a view that appeared to be supported by others I know who have given it a try.  I was pretty sure that as long as my backside pointed to the ground (as they say), I was never going to venture into baked risotto territory.

Well, one should never say "never".  I'd had Donna's recipe for this Prawn, Leek and Lemon Risotto bookmarked in my copy of "Fast, Fresh, Simple" for ages because I think this is such a winning flavour combination.  Donna's version is however a baked one, and I was pretty sure that I would just take those ingredients and use them in my usual stirred method for making risotto.

A couple of weeks ago though, I was really hankering for some risotto on a cold and miserable winter week night, but I had other things I needed to be doing and just didn't have the time to spare standing over a pot for 20 to 30 minutes.  So, I took a deep breath, threw caution to the wind, and made my first baked risotto.  I fully expected that without all that constant stirring my risotto wouldn't have the creaminess I was used to from my usual version, but I was surprised to find it was plenty creamy - I think a good knob of butter up front, and another one to finish with, probably helped with that, and I have the feeling that using my enamelled cast iron casserole dish also helped.

So final verdict - no deficit on the "creaminess" front, and the resulting risotto was just about as good as a stirred version.   In my mind, however, a large part of the joy of risotto comes from the sheer pleasure of standing and stirring that pot for up to half an hour - it's a great exercise in presence and mindfulness, and that matters to me a great deal, and I have the belief that it is this which translates into superior flavour rather than just the physical alchemy of stirring those starchy grains of rice around for 20 minutes.  So, yes, I think a stirred risotto will always be superior - you will taste the love that's been stirred into it in every mouthful - but for a quick mid-week fix when you have other things to get done this is a great alternative, and I loved it so much that I've made it several times since.  I hope you'll give it a try.

Prawn, Leek & Lemon Risotto Recipe
Adapted slightly from recipe by Donna Hay
from Fast, Fresh, Simple
Serves 2
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
couple of generous knobs of butter
1/2 a leek thinly sliced
2x cloves garlic, crushed
1x lemon, zest and juice
1 cup arborio rice
2-1/2 cups vegetable stock
200g raw prawns, peeled and cleaned
large handful of flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).

Put olive oil and one generous knob of butter in an ovenproof dish, which has a tight fitting lid.  Set dish over medium heat, and once the butter has melted add the leek, garlic and lemon zest to the pan.  Cook for several minutes until the leek has softened, but not browned.  Add the rice to the pan and stir constantly for a couple of minutes until all the rice is completely coated with the oil and the grains look slightly translucent around the edges.  Add half the lemon juice to the pan, and stir constantly until all the liquid has been absorbed.  Now add all the stock to the pan, remove from the heat and cover tightly.

Place pan in the preheated oven and cook for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven, and set the pan over medium heat again.  If all the liquid has already been absorbed, add a ladleful of hot water to the pan along with the prawns.  Stir constantly until the prawns are cooked through - about 4 or 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat, stir in the other generous knob of butter, the remaining lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.  Cover and allow to stand for five minutes for all the flavours to infuse, and then serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the wonderful fast and fabulous dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

Because it's been a while since I've visited some of my other friends, I'll also be sharing this post this week at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

    

Maqluba

As we start to near the end of our incredible journey with Yotam Ottolenghi, our theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is "New to Me" - an opportunity to explore ingredients, cooking techniques or cuisines which are new or relatively unfamiliar to us.

This happily coincided with our Tasting Jerusalem challenge to use the spice blend known as baharat, which is definitely a new to me ingredient.  According to several sources I found, baharat is a blend of several spices, very common in Middle Eastern cooking, for flavouring fish, meat and stews, as well as grains and pulses..  The spices which are included will vary geographically, and no doubt from one household to another as well, but you will most likely find a combination of the following spices: black pepper, coriander, paprika, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon.  Some of you maybe be able to find baharat at your local Middle Eastern store, but I had to make my own.  I found numerous recipes (I'm sure there are a gazillion out there), but since I was going to use it in an Ottolenghi dish, I used Ottolenghi's version from "Jerusalem:  A Cookbook".  This version didn't include paprika as I had seen in some other versions, and I also found that many of the other versions I check out had considerably more pepper than Ottolenghi's.  I think next time I would definitely like to try the inclusion of paprika, and probably double the amount of black peppercorns.  I would probably also increase the cinnamon slightly and reduce the cloves a bit.  But that's just me.

The Maqluba is a sensational dish - definitely what I would call family celebration fare.  There's a little bit of effort involved in prepping this dish, so it's not a mid-week throw it together in 15 minutes kind of dinner.  But I did take a couple of little shortcuts to make life easier, and to also make a slightly healthier version.  The essence of the dish is layers of tomatoes, fried aubergine, fried cauliflower, poached chicken, rice and spices all cooked in a stock made from the chicken, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and you can turn the dish out like a giant "cake".

Turned out it looks pretty impressive, if not exactly "beautiful" - certainly not the most photogenic dish I've produced.  Like every Ottolenghi dish I've tried so far though it is a triumph of taste and textures, and delicious on its own (even better the second day), and a side of yoghurt and cucumber sauce turns it into sublime.  I hope you can find the time and occasion to make this dish - it's definitely worth the effort.

Some changes I made to the original recipe:  Fresh tomatoes are not a happening thing in these parts right now, so I used some slow-roasted tomatoes from my freezer, along with a couple of tinned tomatoes, torn into pieces.  Aubergine are not exactly seasonal here right now either, and worth a king's ransom, but I did push the boat out to splurge on one of these beauties instead of the two called for in the recipe - the one I had was largish (that is, bigger than what I would call medium, but smaller than what I would call large - can you tell I'm not a black or white person), and I think it was enough.  Instead of frying the aubergine in oil, I brushed with a little oil and baked the slices in the oven until golden - less oil, less mess, and less of my time standing over a frypan!  The recipe also called for frying the cauliflower, but I blanched it instead - once again, less mess, no standing over a frypan, and healthier.  No doubt, there is an extra dimension of flavour that comes from frying these ingredients that I would have lost (of course fried food tastes better!), and if you feel inclined to stand around over pots of hot oil, flipping and turning, then knock yourself out - personally, it was a small sacrifice I was prepared to make for a healthier, more fuss-free version, and there is so much going on in this dish that I don't think I missed out on much.  I also used a bit less chicken than called for in the original recipe, simply because that was what I had on hand, and I didn't find that the extra was needed.  Another observation I did have ... you may have seen my recent post, in which I enjoyed this dish at a delicious lunch I shared at Ephesus Restaurant with Beth Lee.  That was my first experience of this dish and, as such, became my benchmark for it.  In that version, cinnamon was definitely a dominant flavour, and I found that was less so in Ottolenghi's version - I missed that, and I would definitely increase the amount of cinnamon next time.   

Maqluba Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

from Jerusalem:  A Cookbook
Makes 4 to 6 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

olive oil

1x large or 2x medium aubergine, cut crosswise into 0.5cm (1/4") slices

1-1/2 cups basmati rice

500g (1 lb) skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 leek, halved lengthwise, washed, and cut into chunks

10 black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 medium cauliflower, cut into medium sized florets

8x slow-roasted tomato halves, plus 3x whole canned tomatoes roughly torn,

or substitute 3-4 medium fresh tomatoes, cut into 0.5cm (1/4") slices

4x large garlic cloves, halved

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (next time I would double this amount)

1 teaspoon ground allspice (next time I would halve this amount)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon baharat spice mix (store-bought, or see recipe page 299 of Jerusalem: A Cookbook)

generous handful of walnuts sauteed in butter until golden

1 cup natural Greek style yoghurt

1/2 telegraph cucumber, peeled, deseeded & finely chopped

large handful fresh coriander, finely chopped

generous pinch of salt

Wash the rice thoroughly and soak in cold water with 1 teaspoon of salt for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

Spread aubergine slices out, in a single layer, on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.  Brush aubergine slices with olive oil on both sides, and put tray into the preheated oven.  Bake until the aubergine is golden, turning them over half way through.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a small amount of olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add the chicken to the pan and sear until golden brown on both sides.  Add the chopped leek, bay leaves, peppercorns and 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.

Remove chicken from the liquid and set aside.  Strain the stock and reserve for later.

While the chicken is cooking, bring a medium sized pot of lightly salted water to the boil, add the cauliflower, and cook until only just fork tender.  Remove from heat and drain.

Lightly oil the base and sides of a saucepan or casserole dish that is 24-26cm (9-10") in diameter and 12cm (5") deep (I used a cast iron Dutch oven).  Line the base with a circle of non-stick baking paper, and then begin to layer up the dish.

To begin with, arrange tomatoes in a single layer over the base of the casserole, and top with the aubergine slices.  Arrange the cauliflower florets over the aubergines, and top with the chicken thighs (roughly sliced).  Drain the rice, spread over the chicken, and top with the garlic halves.  Add all the spices and 1 teaspoon of salt into 3 cups of the reserved stock, whisk to mix well, and pour over the rice.  Press firmly down with your hands to make sure all the rice is submerged in the stock, adding a little more stock or water if necessary to cover everything.

Set the casserole over medium heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmering, cover the casserole, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes (don't be tempted to lift the lid during that time).  At the end of the cooking time, remove the pan from the heat, take off the lid, put a clean tea towel over the top, and quickly return the lid.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix yoghurt, cucumber, coriander and salt together, and set aside.

Remove the lid of the casserole, place a large serving plate over the top, and quickly invert the dish onto the plate.  Leave the casserole dish there for a couple of minutes, before slowly lifting off.  Sprinkle the buttered walnuts over the top, and serve with the yoghurt and cucumber on the side.   

If you would like to get to know Yotam Ottolenghi a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Jerusalem and Ottolenghi's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

Have a look also at what my "Tasting Jerusalem" friends have been doing - you'll find plenty of other great uses for the baharat you now have in your spice cupboard, along with other interesting ingredients as well. (“Tasting Jerusalem is a virtual cooking community exploring the vibrant flavors and cuisine of the Middle East through the lens of “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” by Ottolenghi and Tamimi published by Ten Speed Press. You can follow along and cook with us by subscribing to omgyummy.com, following the hashtag #TastingJrslm on Twitter and Instagram, liking our Facebook page or joining our Google+ Community and finally checking out all of our groups’ dishes on Pinterest.”)

I'll also be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam.

         

Prawns with Courgettes (Jhinga aur ghia) & Exciting News

Most of you already know that one of my favourite places to play is at I Heart Cooking Clubs, a cooking club which chooses a different chef to feature every six months.  During that time, we explore the recipes and techniques of our chosen chef according to a different theme each week.  We learn a lot about our chef during that time, and a lot about each other as well through our regular posts.  A strong community has developed and I have loved being a part of it.  So I'm very, very excited and feel very honoured that I am about to become a co-host of this group along with the lovely Kim of Stirring the Pot and the lovely Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

You probably also know that our chosen chef for the last six months has been Madhur Jaffrey, and I am submitting this (a little late - but better that than never) for our theme of One Pot Wonders.  Strictly speaking, this is not a one pot wonder insofar as I did cook rice in a separate pot, but hey it's near enough.  This dish is nice and flavourful, but certainly not spicy, and was great for a quick "toss everything in the pan", work-day dinner - definitely one I would make again.  Total cooking time about 10 minutes.  And now we come to our last week of cooking with Madhur, so do come back later in the week for my "farewell to Madhur" dish.

Now for more exciting news.  If you've been reading my posts for a while, you will know that one of my absolute favourite chefs is Yotam Ottolenghi, and every one of his books in my collection have been cooked from over and over again - not something I can say about some of the other cookbooks I own.  I also happen to know that a lot of you are big Ottolenghi fans too, so I'm very excited to tell you that our next chef at I Heart Cooking Clubs is indeed going to be Yottam Ottolenghi.  So, my Ottolenghi-loving friends, if you haven't played along at IHCC before maybe you'll feel inspired to join in the fun.  At the very least, why not pop over here and see what's coming up - our forthcoming themes and how to join in. 

In the meantime, you might like to try this ...

Prawns with Courgettes (Jhinga aur ghia) Recipe

Adapted (barely) from recipe by Madhur Jaffrey from

Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery

Makes 4 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2x medium-sized courgettes (about 300g - 10 oz)

flaky sea salt

3-4 tablespoons neutral vegetable oil

6x cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped

large handful of coriander, roughly chopped, keeping leaves & stems separate

1x red chilli, finely chopped (with or without seeds)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

3x large fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped, or 1x tin tomatoes

2.5cm (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, grated

juice of 1 lemon

425g (15 oz) prawns, shelled and deveined

Cut courgettes into thin batons, approximately 6 cm (2.5 in) long x .5 cm (1/4 in) thick.  Place in a colander, sprinkle with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt, and toss thoroughly.  Set aside for an hour to allow surplus liquid to drain out of the courgettes.  Remove from colander to a clean tea towel and pat dry.

Heat the oil in a medium sized pot or frying pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and saute.  As soon as the garlic becomes fragrant, add the chilli, coriander stems (save the leaves for later), turmeric, cumin, tomatoes, ginger, lemon juice and another pinch of flaky sea salt.  (Add a pinch of cayenne pepper here too if you like a little more heat).  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently until the tomatoes have broken down and become "saucy".

Stir in the prawns and continue to simmer until the prawns are just cooked through and coated in a thick sauce.

Stir through the chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately.

I served this with some steamed basmati rice, but you could just as easily serve it with nothing more than a bit of flat bread on the side to scoop it up with.

If you would like to get to know Madhur a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking and many of Madhur's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace.

Lake Palace Hotel Aubergines Cooked in the Pickling Style (Baigan Achari)

I've owned my copy of Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery for about 26 years now, and in all that time, whenever I open the book it falls open at exactly the same page - at the recipe for "The Lake Palace Hotel's Aubergine cooked in the pickling style".  I always thought it sounded like a great dish, and I guess it was always inevitable that I was going to make it one day.  As it turned out, it was so awesomely good I'm just disappointed that it took me so long to get around to making it.

Now I must warn you, that like many other Indian dishes (and most "brown" food), this doesn't look nearly as appealing as it tastes.  So, although this is not exactly a feast for the eyes, you're going to have to take a giant leap of faith when I tell you that this is probably my favourite dish I've made so far since I, and my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs, have been cooking with Madhur Jaffrey.

Madhur describes this dish as being "not unlike a spicy ratatouille", and she is exactly right.  It does have a most unusual "pickled" taste.  Madhur says this comes from the black onion seeds suggested in the recipe;  but I didn't use those, so it's obviously not as simple as that.

I ate this as a meal on its own, with just some steamed basmati rice, but it would also make a great accompaniment to all sorts of other dishes.  Madhur recommends it as being particular good with lamb, either Indian style or just simply roasted, and I can imagine that working really well.  She suggests it is also good cold and served with cold meats.

The original recipe serves 6 people as an accompaniment.  I adjusted quantities to make a main meal for myself, with a small amount leftover for the next day's lunch.  Despite reducing the quantity of vegetables in this dish, I kept most of the spices as the original recipe.  Also, instead of frying the aubergine slices, I opted for a healthier version, by roasting the aubergines slices in the oven.  It's also a lot easier than standing over batches of frying aubergines.

This is my contribution to this week's Pot Luck theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs, and I certainly won't be waiting another 26 years to make this again.

Lake Palace Hotel Aubergines Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Madhur Jaffrey in

Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery

Makes 1 main meal with leftovers, or

Serves 2 as a light meal, or

Serves 3 as an accompaniment

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1x medium/large aubergine (about 350g (12 oz))

neutral-flavoured vegetable oil

2.5cm (1 inch) piece ginger, peeled & coarsely chopped

3x cloves garlic, peeled & halved

1 cup water

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1x large tomato, peeled & finely chopped (see note below)

1/2 tablespoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C (425 degrees F).

Cut aubergine into 1cm (1/2 inch) thick rings, and place in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Brush them all liberally with some vegetable oil and put into the hot oven.  Once they are beginning to brown (about 10 minutes), flip them over and brush the other side generously with the vegetable oil.  Return to the oven until golden brown - about another 10-15 minutes.  Turn them again if you feel you need to.  Remove from oven and set aside.

Now place garlic, ginger and water in a blender and blitz until smooth.

Heat some more vegetable oil (about 2 tablespoons) in a deepish frying pan over medium heat.  Once the oil has heated, add the fennel and cumin seeds.  As soon as the seeds begin to look toasty and smell fragrant, add the chopped tomato,  the whizzed up garlic and ginger, turmeric, coriander, cayenne pepper and salt.  Cook, stirring regularly, until the mixture reduces a bit and becomes like a thick sauce.

Add the aubergine slices to the pan, stirring gently to make sure all the slices are bathed in the sauce.  Lower the heat slightly and cook very gently for about 8 minutes.

Serve over steamed rice, as a side dish, or cold as a salad.

Note:  For ease of peeling a tomato - cut a small cross in the base of the tomato, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water.  Allow to stand for about 30 seconds, remove and plunge immediately into a bowl of cold water.  The skin will slide straight off.

If you would like to get to know Madhur a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking and many of Madhur's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

Prawns in a Dark Sauce

I'm excited ... very excited.  If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that one of the places I like to play is at I Heart Cooking Clubs.  Each six months a new chef is chosen, who we get to know by cooking and posting their recipes, according to a different theme each week, and this week the group begins a new, 6-month culinary journey with the wonderful Madhur Jaffrey.

So why am I so excited?  Well, first of all, Madhur has long been one of my favourite chef's, and is definitely my favourite of all the chefs the group has cooked with so far (no slight intended against any of our previous chefs).  So there's that.

Secondly, I've had Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking in my cookbook collection for about 25 years, and although I've made several dishes from this book, I haven't used it nearly as much as I would like to.  So there's that too.

And, lastly, I'm excited because Indian food is the food of my childhood.  This is the food that makes me most nostalgic ... the food that sparked my love of being in the kitchen from a young age. Some of my earliest food memories, transport me back to Saturday afternoons in my grandparents' kitchen while they made preparations for Sunday lunch.  Nana would grind spices and roll little balls of lamb, while Grandad grated fresh coconut, for kofta curry.  Grandad would make gulab jamun - rolling balls of "cottage cheese", deep frying them and bathing them in a cardamom and rose water syrup.  Back in those days, many of the spices my grandmother used were not readily available at the corner grocer - there were no supermarkets around in those days - so she used to buy her spices from a big spice merchant down in Auckland's viaduct basin.  The spices were kept in the little brown paper bags they came in, and I used to love hauling a chair over to the cupboard where they were stored, opening the door and breathing in the heady aromas.

Then Sunday morning would roll around, and after church Nana would pull up her sleeves and begin to make the parantha (Indian flatbreads), as the family began to gather around the table.  Steaming plates of rice and curry would be brought to the table, with big piles of the parantha, jugs of dahl, and long "wands" of cucumber marinating in tall jugs filled with chilled, salty water.  Throughout lunch, background music was provided by the Sunday Request Session on the radio - everyone's favourite was "Silver Threads & Golden Needles".  Mum and her sister would regale us with stories of their own childhood growing up in Calcutta, stories we loved to hear so much that my brother and I would ask for them to be told over and over again.  

Once the last gulab jamun had been devoured, and dishes done, we would retire to the lounge for the Sunday afternoon "old-time" movie on TV.  Once movie time was over afternoon tea would ensue, and after another couple of hours of reminiscing, an early dinner of lunch leftovers and a batch of pholouries (little chickpea fritters, similar to a pakora) would finish off the day. 

Surprisingly though, despite my history with Indian food, I don't cook it as often as you might expect, so I'm really looking forward to the next six months of making Indian dishes a regular fixture at my table.

So for our first dish this week - a Potluck theme to "Welcome Madhur" - I headed straight to the bookcase.  I chose Prawns in a Dark Sauce ... what could be more welcoming?!  This dish was very reminiscent of many I ate during my childhood, though we would never have had prawns - more likely it would have been served with fish.  Indeed, you could definitely substitute a firm-fleshed white fish in this dish if you wanted.  In fact, if you wanted to make a vegetarian version of this, you could easily substitute chunks of roasted aubergine, or mushrooms, or even hard-boiled eggs.  With only 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, there is no significant heat in this recipe, but the subtle layering of spices certainly delivers some warmth and complex flavours.  This is a very quick and easy dish, and would be perfect for a quick, mid-week, after-work dinner.  I served this with plain basmati rice, and a simple tomato, cucumber, and coriander salad.

Prawns in a Dark Sauce

Adapted, just barely, from recipe in

Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking

Serves 3

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/2 onion, peeled & roughly chopped

2.5cm (1 inch) piece ginger, peeled & roughly chopped

5 cloves garlic, peeled

50 ml (1.5 fl oz) water

4 tablespoons sunflower oil

1x small cinnamon stick

6x whole green cardamom pods

2x bay leaves

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2x medium tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped

5 tablespoons natural yoghurt

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

275 ml (1/2 pint) water

generous pinch sea salt

300g peeled and deveined prawns

1/4 teaspoon garam masala

fresh coriander, generous handful finely chopped

Put the onion, ginger, garlic and 50 mls of water into blender, and blitz until the mixture becomes a paste.

Heat oil in a medium sized pot over medium-high heat.  Add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and bay leaves, and stir for a few seconds.  As soon as they start "spitting", add the onion, garlic and ginger paste to the pan.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the paste becomes a light golden colour.

Now add the ground cumin and ground coriander, and fry for about 30 seconds.  Add the chopped tomatoes, and continue cooking until the tomatoes have softened down completely and you have a thick reddish-brown looking paste.  If desired you could pre-prepare the dish up to this stage.

Next add one tablespoon of the yoghurt, and keep cooking, stirring constantly, until the yoghurt is completely incorporated into the sauce.  Continue to the add the rest of the yoghurt, one tablespoon at a time, until it is all fully blended in.  Then add the turmeric and cayenne pepper and stir for a minute.

Now add the 275 mls water, salt, and prawns;  stir and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat slightly and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes or until you have a nice thick sauce and the prawns are cooked through - take care not to overcook them.  Sprinkle the garam masala over the top and stir in.

Serve immediately garnished with fresh coriander.

(Note:  The cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and bay leaves are not meant to be eaten, so you may prefer to remove them before serving)

If you would like to get to know Madhur a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking and many of Madhur's other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK or Fishpond NZ.

         

Artichoke & Italian Sausage Risotto

You may recall that last week I brought you coffee, when I had really been planning to bring you risotto.  Since then, I was flooded with comments from so many of you saying that you still wanted to see the risotto, and as our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is Rice is Nice this seemed like the perfect time to share this dish.

This is another recipe from Tessa Kiros' book Falling Cloudberries, though to be honest I used her recipe more as inspiration than following it too closely.  Risotto is one of those things that I make so often that I can pretty much make it with my eyes closed.  I have my own tried and true "method" for making risotto and seldom use a recipe other than for inspiration.  So it was with this recipe - I took Tessa's idea for artichokes and Italian sausages, but departing somewhat from her method I incorporated them into my usual risotto base.  I found a great Italian sausage with plenty of fennel and little hits of chilli which brought loads of flavour to the risotto, and I used bottled char-grilled artichokes instead of the fresh artichokes Tessa used.  There are no fresh artichokes available here right now - in fact, even in the season here, they are both hard to come by and ridiculously expensive - and I have never come across frozen ones here in New Zealand either.  Bottled ones work just fine, however, and I simply put them in right at the end so that they wouldn't break up too much.

I have always loved the combination of sausage with pasta or rice, and the spiciness of these sausages with the smoky char-grilled artichokes, combined with creaminess of the rice amounted to the ultimate in comfort food.  Kim at Stirring the Pot made this last week and said it was one of her favourite Tessa Kiros recipes so far, and I would have to agree - this was definitely one of my favourites.  I urge you to try it.

Artichoke & Italian Sausage Risotto

Inspired by a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Makes 3 generous servings

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4x char-grilled bottled artichokes, drained & cut into quarters
3x medium sized Italian sausages

olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced
small bunch of thyme

4 generous handfuls arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine or juice of 1 lemon

3 to 4 cups vegetable stock, hot
pinch of saffron threads, infused in the hot stock

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup Parmesan, freshly grated

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Remove the casings from the sausages - just run a sharp knife down the full length of the sausage, peel off the casing and discard - it will come off very easily.  Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large skillet, set over high heat.  Add the sausages to the hot oil and using a wooden spatula break the sausages up into smallish pieces.  Cook, stirring from time to time, until the pieces of sausage are cooked through and lightly golden all over.  Remove from the pan and set aside on some paper towels to drain any excess fat.

Return the pan to the heat.  With fat that has come out of the sausages, you shouldn't need any more oil in the pan, but by all means add more if necessary - you should have about 2-3 tablespoons of oil.  Add the shallot, garlic and thyme to the pan - cooking until the shallot has softened and the garlic is fragrant, taking care not to burn the garlic.  Almost as soon as you can smell the garlic it is time to add the rice to the pan.  Continue cooking the rice with the shallot and garlic, stirring constantly, until every single grain of rice is coated with the oil - it will take on a kind of translucent look around the edges and will start to "squeak".

Now is the time to add the wine or lemon juice - I used lemon juice on this occasion, which I thought worked really well with the artichokes.  Continue stirring until virtually all the wine or juice has been absorbed by the rice.  Then begin to add the stock and saffron, one ladleful at a time - stirring constantly until each ladleful has been absorbed before adding the next. The rice will swell up considerably as it absorbs the stock, and when you get to the point where you think the rice will only take one or two more additions of stock, add in the pieces of cooked sausage.  Continue adding the stock until the rice is cooked through.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the artichokes to the rice, along with the butter, two-thirds of the parmesan, a generous pinch of flaky sea salt, and some freshly ground black pepper.  Stir well, cover the pan, and set aside for about 5 minutes for all the flavours to infuse.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Spoon the risotto into serving bowls, sprinkle over the the remaining Parmesan and serve immediately.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this at Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do stop by to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

Wild Rice, Black Cherry & Goat Cheese Salad and Cookbook Sundays # 4

It's Saturday evening in my part of the world, which means that it's time to dust off another of my cookbooks and share something with you for Cookbook Sundays.  If you'd also like to scare a few moths out of some of your own seldom used cookbooks and join the fun, you'll find full details later on in this post.

It's also New Year's Eve here and, although I have no plans for partying, I still felt compelled to make something a bit special and seemingly celebratory for my dinner.  At the same time, since I've been a bit unwell this week, I wanted something that was both healthy and slightly comforting.

For healthy and comforting, one of the best places to turn in my opinion is the divine Heidi Swanson.  A couple of weeks ago I shared a recipe from her first book Super Natural Cooking;  however, I thought it was time I turned to her more recent book Super Natural Every Day.

I came across a recipe for "Whole Grain Rice Salad", which certainly sounded wholesome enough, but that seriously doesn't sound like celebration fare, now does it?  Still the picture in the book looked pretty and a read through of the ingredients convinced me that this dish could indeed be a festive dinner.  Now, really, don't you think that a dish of wild rice, studded with black cherries, toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese and tossed with a cherry vinaigrette, and which looks like this, deserves a better name than Whole Grain Rice Salad?

I did change things a bit from the original recipe.  Firstly, I used half wild rice and half brown rice, since my budget didn't run to using all wild rice.  The original recipe claimed to serve six, but since I didn't have five other people to feed, I reduced the amount of rice by half.  But as I still wanted this to be a substantial meal, and I wanted there to be leftovers, I kept all the other quantities roughly the same.  For the dressing I adjusted the ratio of vinegar to olive oil as I found it to be just a bit too, well ... vinegary.  I also added a bit of maple syrup to the dressing as I felt it need just a bit more sweetness - this of course might depend on how sweet your cherries are.  I replaced walnuts with toasted hazelnuts, just because I love them and also because I love the way shape of the hazelnuts echoes the shape of the cherries.  And, lastly, because I am ever one to gild the lily, I added some pomegranate seeds.

Wild Rice, Black Cherry & Goat Cheese Salad

(previously known as Whole Grain Rice Salad)

adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson from

Super Natural Every Day

Serve 2 as a substantial meal or

serve 3 as a light meal or

serve 4 as a side dish

Vegetarian

(for a vegan alternative omit the goat cheese)

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

125g (4.5 oz) wild rice

125g (4.5 oz) brown rice

3 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves

2/3 cup toasted hazelnuts

200g (7 oz) black cherries

125ml (4.2 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

40ml (1.4 fl oz) white balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)

flaky sea salt

handful of crumbled goat cheese

small handful of baby basil leaves

small handful of pomegranate seeds (optional)

Put the rice into a large saucepan with plenty of salted water, and boil until tender - about 30-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the cherry vinaigrette:  remove the pits from and combine one third of the cherries in a blender with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and maple syrup.  Blend until the mixture is smooth, taste and adjust any of the elements as necessary.  Set aside.

Once the rice is cooked, drain, and put into a large bowl along with spinach leaves and most of the hazelnuts.  Toss together well until the spinach begins to wilt slightly.  Add a generous amount of the dressing and toss well.  Taste and add more salt if necessary.

Cut the rest of the cherries in half and remove the pits.  Then stir most of them into the rice.

Tip everything out onto a platter.  Strew the remaining cherries and hazelnuts over the top, along with chunks of the goat cheese and the pomegranate seeds.  Finally stud with the sprigs of basil and serve immediately.

This is a great dish for a summer celebration - packed full of amazing flavours and textures - and I do hope you'll try it.

This last year has not been without its difficulties, and I won't be sad to close the door on it in a few hours time.  However, there have also been wonderful moments in my year - new friendships forged, the kindness of strangers, memorable travels, and the opportunity to start a new life in a new home and city.  Most of all I am immensely grateful for all of you who stop by here regularly, who take the time to read what I have to say, leave me your comments, and lend me your support and wisdom.  I am optimistic about the year ahead, and for all of you I wish you a happy and inspirational time in 2012.

 

Earlier I mentioned Cookbook Sundays.  What is that all about, you are perhaps wondering.  Well, if you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

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I'm also sharing this post at Souper (and Sammies & Salads) Sundays hosted by my lovely friend Deb, at Kahakai Kitchen, and at My Meatless Mondays hosted by Chaya at My Sweet & Savory.

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

It's a rare thing for me to be lost for words, but right now lost for words I am.  You see, I made this dish way back in October for one of the I Heart Cooking Clubs cooking with Tessa Kiros challenges - may have been the "peasant food" week, don't exactly remember.  Sadly, the week came and went, and I just didn't get a chance to get my post done.  Never mind, I thought, there will be another challenge that I can use it for.  Other suitable occasions came and went, and still it didn't get posted.  Well this week is our Pot Luck week, and I can keep it from you no more.

After all this time, however, what can I tell you about this dish?  Well, I remember enjoying this dish a lot and the other half did too.  I recall that by the time I dished up dinner it was too dark for a photo, so I set a portion aside (the one you see in the picture above) to take a photo the next day.  And I also recall said other half being rightly miffed that he wasn't allowed seconds because this portion had to be saved for the photo.  Such are the joys of living with a food blogger - he keeps threatening to write his own blog about that very subject!  I even marked it in the book (Falling Cloudberries) as being a favourite and one that I would make again.

But, two months later, the subtleties, the various nuances of the dish that I might ordinarily want to share with you are forgotten.  So I can only tell you this - it was a great family style dish, and one that could easily be multiplied to feed a crowd;  I know you will enjoy it and I hope you give it a try.

 

Chicken with Coriander & Spinach Rice

Adapted from a recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Makes 3 generous servings
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

small bunch coriander

100g (3.5 oz) baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup water

olive oil

1kg (2.2 lb) bone-in chicken thighs

2x garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 carrot, diced

1/2 red pepper, deseeded and diced

1x red chilli, finely sliced (deseeding optional)

1-1/2 cups short grain rice

1/4 cup frozen peas

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Spiced Yoghurt:

1 cup plain Greek-style yoghurt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons olive oil

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Begin by making the spiced yoghurt - simply mix all of the ingredients together and set aside until you are ready to serve.

Pick the coriander leaves from the stems and put into a small food processor with the spinach leaves and water.  Blitz into a puree and set aside.

Heat olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) in a large, heavy-based frypan over medium heat.  Add the chicken, and fry until golden brown and crispy all over.  Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add a little more olive oil to the pan if necessary.  Add the garlic, and as soon as it becomes fragrant add the carrot, red pepper and chilli.  Saute for several minutes until the vegetables have softened.

Add the coriander and spinach puree to the pan and cook for two minutes before returning the chicken to the pan.  Season generously with flaky sea salt and pepper.

Saute for another couple of minutes and then add 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes allowing the chicken to cook through and absorb all the flavours.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside, keeping it warm.  Add the rice to the pan, and add enough hot water to cover the rice by about 3cm (1-1/4 inches).  Cook, uncovered, until the rice looks as though it has absorbed most of the water (5-10 minutes).  Add the peas.  Turn heat down as low as it can go;  cover;  and, stirring just once or twice to prevent sticking, cook for around 15 minutes, until the rice is cooked.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Put the rice onto a large serving platter, arranging the chicken pieces over the top.  Drizzle some of the spiced yoghurt over the top, or serve in a separate bowl allowing each person to add their own.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this post at Cookbook Sundays, See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by Michelle at Ms. enPlace, and Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage.