risotto – Page 2 – Abstract Gourmet

Chinese Risotto

Anyone who reads this site on a semi regular basis would think I have some kind of risotto obsession.

So to add to that… here’s another concoction I made recently. A chinese influenced risotto using baby corn, bok choy, and chinese cooking sherry as the base.

It was tasty… but somewhat “uninspired”, which is my new favourite word to describe things that are nice, but not up to my own level of expectation.

Thus ends the risotto posts for the time being. Unless anyone out there can suggest some I should try ??

Cmon…challenge me !

Wasabi Risotto with Daikon & Pickled Ginger

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Wasabi Risotto ??? ( I even knew you were thinking with 3 question marks ).

Well this was an idea that popped into my head the other day. I’ve been a risotto fan for a while now. Ever since I first convinced myself it was time to try making one, I’ve been hooked. The lovely creaminess and the gentle process of watching the stock slowly absorb sucks me in every time.

However, I’m not what you’d call the most creative person in the world. I take the occaisonal step out onto the ledge, find it’s not so bad, and then build a little nest there and camp out for a while. Now that’s all well and good if you’re a condor, or a vulture, or some other kind of bird of prey who relies on picked over the carcasses of someone elses creativity, but every now and then it’s good to spread your metaphoric wings and hypothetically soar to new culinary heights.

So here is my first foray into the world of experimental flavours and (dare I say it) fusion cuisine.

The idea was to create a style of risotto that someone from Japan might make, given some local ingredients and flavours. In reality I’m not sure whether traditional Japanese cuisine would embrace the use of wasabi as a flavouring. But then I wasn’t trying to make a “Japanese” dish, nor an “Italian” dish… nor even a “fusion” dish… just a wasabi flavoured risotto with some theme running through the ingredients that happened to be vaguely Japanese :)

So…

Ingredients

Risotto Rice (I used Vialone nano which is shorter grained than Arborio or Carnaroli)
Sake (as part of the stock, and for the flavouring)
Fish broth (combined with water and sake to use as the stock)
Leek
Onion
Red Cabbage
Daikon (or Chinese Radish)
Wasabi (I didn’t have fresh wasabi, so just used some paste)
Japanese “Kewpie” Mayonnaise
Lemon juice
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

Make the risotto as you would any risotto. Feel free to check out my indepth analysis of the risotto making process in one of my other recipes. The difference in this recipe is that we’re using sake instead of white wine to start with, and we’re adding the wasabi flavour at the end.
So start of the onion and leek in some butter to soften. Then coat the rice with the mixture and let it simmer and absorb heat for a minute. Now add a cup of sake to start with and let that absorb before adding the fish stock/sake mixture a ladel full at a time as you would any risotto.

I added the cabbage mid way through the process to make sure it was nice and soft, and I added the daikon right at the end to keep a little of the crunchy texture. The wasabi flavour was then made by combining the wasabi paste, japanese mayonaisse, sake, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil together and mixing really well. The wasabi is very strong… So i wanted to keep the flavour whilst toning down the sinus clearing qualities it’s often known for.

The result was a creamy pale green wasabi flavoured couli/paste/purée/sauce (mental note: look up the proper term for various forms of sauce). It had all the flavour of the wasabi with only a little of the “oh my god, that wasn’t a piece of avocado I just ate with my sushi” pain inducing after effects.

I mixed this through the risotto just prior to finishing, which gave it a nice glossy creamy finish. Then topped with a few slices of pickled ginger, daub some of the wasabi sauce around the place, and c’est fini !

I’d have to say it was a great success. Being the only judge however, I’m highly biased. But it’s definitely made me want to experiment more with flavours and styles that might not necessarily go together. If I made it again I think i’d add some nice steamed fish on top, or perhaps onagi with a seaweed/wasabi sauce on top…

Score one for fusion cooking :)

Lazy

Yes, I have been lazy… No real excuses either, other than the fact that I haven’t been cooking a lot of what I’d call gourmet quality food lately.

I did make quite a tasty meal for Dan and Mabes recently, but we were too busy talking and eating to take any photos.

I also promised to write up some of the new green coffee beans I received last week, but i’ve been more interested in roasting and drinking it… Misplaced priorities indeed.

For now, here’s a photo of tasty Saffron Chorizo Risotto i made recently. It’s basically the same recipe as my other risotto recipes, except that I add a few strands of saffron in along the way to give some nice colour and flavour. I think once you’ve got the risotto base down pat, you can really do whatever the hell you want with it.

Enjoy.

P.s – i think i bought a house.

Curried Chicken Risotto

I hadn’t made a risotto for a while so i felt in the mood for one. I decided to use a chicken/white wine base this time.

This is my standard procedure of cooking risotto…

Cook the onion/leek/garlic,

heat stock (wine, stock, water, salt),

heat and coat the rice with onion/oil/butter

add a cup of wine to start with

stir

add stock

stir

test rice…still hard

add stock

stir

add stock

stir

test rice…getting soft

add stock

stir

add stock

stir

test rice, close enough to being ready to add things that need a bit of heat

add those things (meat,seafood, hard vegetables)

add stock

stir

add more stock (stock getting low so hope i dont need much more)

add seasoning (pepper, salt, ground spices, coriander, cumin, tumeric, fennel seed etc)

add stock

stir

taste

add more seasoning

test rice, getting close to being done now

add stock

add cheese (parmesan, peccorino, whatever you like, skip if it doesn’t suit cheese)

stir

taste

add more seasoning

add spinach or greens that need to be wilted (bok choy, cabbage, roquette etc)

stir

taste

add a bit of butter or cream to boost that fat content up and add extra creaminess to finish (can also skip this)

stir

taste, perfection on a spoon.

done !

So for this recipe i added onion, garlic and fennel at step 1, chicken (pre cooked) and baby carrots at step 19, tumeric, cumin, salt, pepper, lemon juice at step 23… and skipped the cheese, green vegetables, and cream steps of my normal routine.

It turned out pretty nice… lovely creamy curry flavour coming through the rice and chicken. I also use Carnaroli rice instead of arborio. This is because im under the impression that it has a higher starch content than Arborio, and gives a much creamier finish than Arborio rice does.

Give it a try !

Red Wine Risotto with Beef & Bok Choy

I made this meal tonight. It’s the first heavily savoury risotto i’ve made, and a bloody ripper, even if i do say so myself.

Ingredients:
– Good quality fillet steak (i used rib eye, something nice and juicy preferably)
– Carnaroli rice – higher starch content than arborio rice means creamier risotto.
– Red wine (mine was the 2002 Riverbank Estate Cabernets, my nana bought it for my birthday… what a great nana :) )
– Tomatos (both real and pureed)
– Quality beef stock
– Bok Choy (this is for a change in texture from the rest of the risotto to add some bite)
– Rosemary
– Risotto stuff ( ive made a lot of risotto lately, so i seem to be repeating the same ingredients and steps, basically this means, chopped onion, garlic, and leek, combined in either butter or olive oil, used to coat the rice before adding stock)

So basically you cook it like you’d cook any risotto, except that before you cook the rice, you cut the beef into strips (or chunks should you so desire) and braise it in a combination of red wine, rosemary, garlic and a little beef stock. Then set it aside just as its medium rare.

Continue with the rest of the risotto, creating the base stock out of beef stock, red wine, and rosemary.

When your rice is ready to go, begin adding the stock, stirring when you need to, and towards the end add in the chopped and pureed tomatoes (as many as you like depending on how ‘tomatoey’ you want it). Then when the rice is almost done, add your beef back in, stir it through, and then add the bok choy and let it soften slighty before serving.

What you get is big juicy pieces of steak combined beautifully with succulent and crisp bok choy and tender carnaroli rice.

And yes, my photography skills are not improving… but fortunately my cooking skills are… so whilst it looks kinda ugly, it tasted really good …

Salmon with Fresh Herb Risotto

This is a simple recipe i came across recently while eating at Lamonts. It was a lot smaller in portion size when i had it there… I seem to have an uncanny knack of making meals a lot bigger than they need to be, but then if it tastes good, i want plenty…

Ingredients:

Risotto

Arborio or Carnaroli Rice (roughly a cup per person)
Spanish Onion (diced finely)
Leek (diced finely)
Fresh Garlic (crushed)
500 mL chicken stock
A handful each of basil, italian parsely, coriander, chives (basically any fresh green herbs you can get your hands on) roughly chopped
1 – 2 cups dry white wine
salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Salmon

Fresh Salmon fillets (sliced into relatively thin strips)
Salt & Pepper and extra virgin olive oil to season
Fresh lemon juice

Directions

Risotto

Place your chicken stock into a large pan with an equal amount of water and bring it to the boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer
Fry the onion, garlic, and leek in a pan with some olive oil until soft but not browned
Add the rice to the vegetables, stir the rice through the mixture, coating the rice
Add a cup or so of white wine to the mixture, letting it absorb into the mixture
Turn the heat to medium low on the pan and start adding the stock into the rice a little at a time
Continue adding stock (i use a ladle full each time) until the rice begins to absorb and the liquid and gets softer
Test the texture of the rice to see if it is soft enough. You want a little bite to it, or else it will turn into mush
As the rice is nearly ready throw all your herbs into the mixture, and stir them through.
Done !

Salmon

Season your salmon slices with olive oil, sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper
If you can, curl the salmon slices into a roll, it should look like a small cylinder at the end. Use a toothpick to fasten the ends if they won’t stay put
In a hot pan, add a splash of olive oil and sear the salmon on the top and bottom. A minute or so on each side should be plenty
Drizzle some lemon juice over the salmon as its cooking, lime juice would also add some nice flavour.
When the salmon is cooked to your liking, serve the risotto into a large plate and add the salmon on top.
Garnish with more fresh herbs and some crème fraîche if you like

Enjoy with a nice glass of white wine (perhaps a Semillon).