Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Risotto

Risotto may sound like a difficult dish, but it just takes a little patience. This particular version of my favorite creamy rice combines pungent roasted garlic, sun dried tomato, and sweet leeks with a dash of parmesan and olive oil. It would make a great side dish for a hearty red meat or a filling side dish.

Roasted Garlic and Sundried Tomato Risotto
Makes 4-5 servings

• 1 onion or 1/2 leek
• 1 tablespoon of cured pancetta (optional)
• 1/2 head of roasted garlic, mashed (take a head of garlic, slice off the top, sprinkle with salt and a tablespoon of olive oil, and roast for 45 minutes at 375 degrees)
• 4 sun dried tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup of dry arborio rice
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1. Prep items as described.
2. Heat about 5 cups of water to boil in a small pot.
3. In your saucepan, saute the onion and pancetta in a tablespoon of olive oil until onion is translucent
4. Add the roasted garlic paste and sun dried tomato. Saute until incorporated and fragrant.
5. Add the dry arborio rice. Saute in the oil to coat the rice. If you need more olive oil, add it a little at a time. 
6. Ladle in two to three scoops of hot water. Mix the ingredients together, scraping down the dry rice into the water. As the rice absorbs the water, ladle in more hot water and continue to mix the ingredients so that the rice evenly is exposed to the water and does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
7. As the rice begins to fluff, stir more often and carefully. Keep adding water until the risotto is fully cooked (tender soft rice) and the risotto sticks to itself.
8. Mix in the parmesan and serve.

Mushroom Scallion Fried Rice

For an impromptu dinner date, I had few ingredients on hand, and a ton of leftover rice. Creativity knows no bounds in my kitchen, and I modified my basic fried rice with some mushrooms, scallions, carrots, and sesame seeds into a fabulous dinner!

Mushroom and Scallion Fried Rice

Serves 3-4, all ingredients (minus rice) are optional and exchangeable. Took me about 45 min.

3 scallions, sliced into coins, whites separated from greens

1/2 pack button mushrooms (about 6 mushrooms), cubed

1 carrot sliced in coins

3 cloves garlic, minced

3.5 cups of already cooked, been-sitting-in-the-fridge-too-long, dry rice

1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce - you'll need more than you think

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1. Heat a large wok (or in my case, a stainless steel pot) until hot. Add one tablespoon olive or vegetable oil and saute the garlic and scallion whites.
2. Add carrot and mushroom. Saute until softened. 
3. Add the rice. Break up the large chunks with a spatula, but don't crush the rice. You want the grains to stay whole. Fry with the existing veggies and such, but keep the rice moving - if you let it sit it will stick to the bottom!
4. Season with soy sauce until desired saltiness is reached.
5. When the rice is dry and fully incorporated with the veggie mix, serve in large bowls.
6. Top with a sprinkle of scallion greens and sesame seeds.

Pork Congee (Jook or Rice Porridge)

While chicken soup is the American sick kid meal of choice, mine happens to be congee, a Chinese rice porridge. I actually used to hate congee, known as jook in my house. It can be bland, watery, and fickle when reheating. But as my mom continued to perfect her recipe and we added a multitude of ingredients, jook has become one of my favorite comfort foods. Its filling and hearty, without being heavy. Its hot and replenishes you with fluids in an easy to digest dish. And best of all, its very easy to customize to your tastes.

My house always begins with making stock. I favor pork stock because its easier to make and there are less hazards from small bones. Making chicken stock requires straining and its easier to have stringy meat, although the flavor is cleaner. Feel free to use canned broth and skip steps 1-5.

1.5 pounds pork bones (my super market carries neck, mom gets the spine - anything goes)
1 onion, small diced
1 rib celery, small diced
3 thick coins ginger
3 cloves garlic, slightly smashed
1.5 cups dry rice
6-8 mushrooms, sliced

Topping (per serving):
1/2 scallions, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1. Take a large pot and heat on high for a minute.
2. Sear the pork bones until browned on all sides.
3. Turn the heat to medium. Add in the chopped onion, celery,  ginger, and garlic. Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. (If it seems too difficult, add in a tablespoon or two of rice wine or water.
4. When the onions are translucent and cooked through, add water to cover the contents of the pot. Turn heat to low and let it simmer for an hour.
5. 30 min before dinner, uncover the pot and check the water level. Add more to cover the contents of the stock.
6. Optional step: Remove the pork bones. And separate the meat. From the bones. Put the meat into a bowl and shred. Discard bones.
7. Add the uncooked rice and stir. Let the pot simmer, covered for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. At the end, as the rice is cooked and the rice begins to break into smaller grains, you will need to stir more often
8. because the bottom will stick. I like my congee thick, about oatmeal consistency. If you like it thinner, you can always cook shorter or add more water.
9. Serve topped with scallions and sesame seeds.

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

I know, I know - its much too early in the year for pumpkin related foods! But if you know anything about me, I cannot resist pumpkin goodies! So it was quite serendipitous when this past weekend I enjoyed some pumpkin ice cream and came across this recipe from AllRecipes.com!

Obviously I adapted it - I didn't want to use the oven given the weather and I only had half a can of pumpkin left in the freezer. And I also have an undying hatred for raisins, so those are replaced by dried cranberries.

Pumpkin Rice Pudding  Serves 8
about an hour and a half

Pudding:
1 qt water
1 cup Arborio rice
4 cups milk (2% in my case)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/3 sugar (to taste. I think I added a smidge more)
1 can pumpkin puree (not filling. And I used half a can because that's all I had!)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground clove

Topping:
1/2 cup minced dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered almonds
cinnamon to dust

1. Boil the water. When its rolling, add the rice, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 7 minutes - the rice should be cooked about 3/4th of the way through. Drain well.
2. Boil the milk on medium high heat. Add the vanilla, salt, and rice, then reduce the heat to medium low. Let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring often. 
3. Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, clove, and ginger. Reduce heat to low. Continue to stir frequently. Simmer for another 30 min or until the mixture has reached the desired consistency. 
4. All pudding to cool and set before serving. Spoon into bowls and sprinkle cranberry almond mixture to top.

Pear and Walnut Brown Rice

Today's post is inspired by... cafeteria food! Last week they had this awesome wild rice with pecans and apple - it was fresh, just a pinch sweet, and had a great richness because of the nuts. It reminds me a little of stuffing, but cleaner and completely vegetarian. I've decided to adapt it for my kitchen and I bet you'll love it too!

Pear and Walnut Brown Rice
Makes about 3 side servings

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water (or as otherwise directed by the instructions for your rice)
1 pear, washed and diced into cm cubes, skin on
2 handfuls crushed walnuts (so they're smaller than the pear cubes)
1 handful dried cranberries

1. Prepare your rice as per the package. Mine says take 1 cup rice to two cups water and boil, then immediately turn down to a simmer. Mine cooked in about 15 minutes (because I let it boil a bit too long - oops!).
2. While the rice is simmering and the water is mostly evaporated and absorbed, toss the dried cranberries on top. 
3. Dice the pear. Heat up a separate skillet and toast the walnuts a smidge. (a teaspoon of oil in a hot skillet, toss in nuts, turn and coat in the pan on medium heat. Toast until fragrant)
4. When the rice is done, add the pear and stir to incorporate. Serve and top with walnuts. (If you add the walnuts in too early, they won't be crunchy later!)

Enjoy!

Mushroom and Leek Risotto

 

After a long year of working, I rewarded myself with a vacation to Italy. There are so many things about Italy that I loved. The architecture. The walkable cities. The cadence of the language. 

And of course! The food.

My family decided to book apartments in Italy rather than get hotels. That way, we would be 1) saving lots of money, but also 2) always accessible to hot water for tea. (Hey. We're Chinese. That's what we do.) My family vacations are also never complete without a visit to the local supermarket - we bring home interesting finds and make dinner family style! One of my favorite dishes in Italy happened to be risotto. (Hey, we're Chinese. We like rice.) The earthy mushrooms and the springy leeks give this dish a lot of flavor - but keeps it light if you just want it as a side dish. It can be made entirely vegetarian if you like and makes fantastic leftovers.

Mushroom and Leek Risotto

serves 2 entree sized portions or 3-4 sides

1 leek (Remove tough part of greens, slice in half vertically, wash, and then slice thinly into half coins.)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (Dried porcinis are awesome! Make sure you soak them in hot water first if you're using dried and drain)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons pancetta/speck/diced bacon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup arborio rice (cannot be substituted for any other kind of rice)
3 cups chicken/veggie broth (or water if you are really in a bind)
salt and pepper to taste
parsley (optional)

1. Heat a non-stick saute pan and the olive oil.
2. Heat the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer while you continue to cook everything else.
3. When hot, add the pancetta/bacon - as usual, we're adding the bacon to give the risotto richness and a savory flavor. Totally optional, but totally worth it IMO.
4. When cooked through and almost crisp, add the garlic.
5. When garlic is fragrant, add the leeks and saute. 
6. When leeks are sweated (they're shiny, and turning a pretty green), add the mushrooms. Saute.
7. When mushrooms have cooked down slightly, add the rice and saute with the ingredients. Saute the rice for about five minutes, but keep the ingredients moving. Things may start to stick from this point forward.
8. Turn the meat down to medium low. Add three or four ladles of the simmering chicken stock to almost cover the ingredients. If the stock is cold, it will hinder the cooking process. The rice will slowly soak up all the stock and soften. Stir the pan frequently to make sure the rice is not sticking.
9. As the stock is absorbed, continue adding stock two ladles at a time - making sure that the bottom of the pan is never dry. Continue this process for 15 to 20 minutes. You will have to babysit this dish to make sure that the rice doesn't stick and cooks evenly. You'll know the rice is done when it is translucent and soft. 
10. Turn the heat down to low and let the rice cook out any residual water. Taste and season with salt and pepper. If desired, top with Parmesan reggiano or in my case, a shredded mozzarella stick. Serve immediately.

Basic Fried Rice

Every Chinese kid has nostalgic memories of their mom/grandma/aunt/dad/etc making fried rice. Fried Rice is a staple of Chinese food. Its also a great way to utilize tons of extra rice and food you have into a convenient meal! And as complicated as it may look, its actually super super easy.

Fried rice, in my humble opinion, should always contain the following:

- Something fatty (bacon for me, lap cheung for my mom, spam for Perry)

- Something crunchy (celery, shrimp, carrots, or onion)

- Egg - the creamy protein draws the rice together

- Soy sauce. The rice really needs a good slosh of it to bring out the color people expect of fried rice, but more importantly, to bring out all the flavors of the ingredients. Carbs always need a lot of salt.

 

Suanne's Fried Rice 

Serves 3-4, all ingredients (minus rice) are optional and exchangeable. Took me about 45 min.

1/4 cup of pre-diced bacon (probably amounted to 3 strips of bacon)

1 red pepper, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

big handful of frozen spinach (chopped, not whole leaf. defrosting is good, but not 100% necessary)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs, beaten

8 oz diced chicken, pre marinated (optional)

3.5 cups of already cooked, been-sitting-in-the-fridge-too-long, dry rice

2 scallions, diced

1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce - you'll need more than you think

dash of sriracha (why not?)

1. Heat a large wok (or in my case, a stainless steel pot) until hot. Take the bacon and saute until almost crispy and dark red.
2. If you have extra meat, add here. If you need extra oil, please add it.
3. Add celery, red pepper, and the spinach. Hm. Tomato paste would be good too... Saute and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. 
4. Add the garlic and an extra drizzle of oil - olive or canola. The next steps will make a lot of stuff stick to your pan - you're hereby warned.
5. Add the rice. Break up the large chunks with a spatula, but don't crush the rice. You want the grains to stay whole. Fry with the existing veggies and such, but keep the rice moving - if you let it sit it will stick to the bottom!
6. When the rice is dry and fully incorporated with the veggie mix, pour the eggs over the rice. Again, keep mixing - eggs will stick to the bottom of the pan too!
7. As the egg cooks, add the scallions, soy sauce, sriracha, and any other flavorings (I added a pinch of curry). 
8. Turn the heat off the pot. When the egg is fully cooked (you may not even see it since the rice soaks it up) serve.
9. Enjoy!