RunSenoRun

Just Made: Risotto with Leeks, Shiitake Mushrooms and (not) Truffles

I was out to dinner with a friend on Friday night and we got to talking about risotto. It's been awhile since I last made it, so I found what seemed like a nice recipe on Epicurious and went shopping.

Shiitake mushrooms are expensive enough ($13.99 a pound)... there was no way I was going to invest in black truffles for risotto... for myself! If I was cooking for someone else, I would probably indulge.

You make this recipe in three steps. I basically took my time and did it in three different steps over the course of the afternoon.

First, I did the leeks with the heavy cream. This was simply dumping the leeks into whipped cream and cooking until the cream was reduced. Once that was done, I put it in the fridge.

Next, I did the mushrooms. This part took a bit longer, but it's really the guts of the dish. The mushrooms, onions and white truffle oil really combined for a powerful flavor.

Finally, after watching the second episode of the wonderful PBS "Sherlock Holmes" series, I made the risotto. If you've ever made risotto, you know it's kind of fun. You basically add a cup of stock to the rice, stir until it's all soaked in, then repeat... for this dish, it took about five cups of stock. Once the risotto is cooked, you combine all the ingredients. Done. Delicious.

I'm really happy with the way this turned out. I think it's on the shortlist for my solo Christmas feast. How does tonkotsu ramen and risotto sound? Actually, it sounds a bit salty. I think I have to work on my menu...

Just Made: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ah, ice cream. Who knew the stuff was so easy to make? I mean, about three minutes prep time, stick stuff in the ice cream maker, transfer to a container, put in freezer, and two hours later, fresh, all natural ice cream.

Memorial Day weekend, Sur La Table (the greatest store known to man) had $89 Cuisinart Ice Cream makers on sale for $49, plus you got a $15 gift card for a later purchase. I had been looking at a higher end ice cream maker, but questioned whether I would ever actually use it. So, when I saw the Cuisinart on sale, I snatched it up, figuring, if I never used it, it would only be $35 down the drain, rather than $200.

As for the ice cream, it was a simple concoction of 2 cups heavy cream, 2 cups whole milk, one cup sugar, some vanilla extract, some peppermint extract and mini-semi-sweet chocolate chips. That's it. So, it's not fatty at all! I found the recipe here.

The taste? Excellent! Creamy and not overly sweet. Should summer ever come to Seattle, I can see making lots of ice cream. In fact, when my niece is here next week, I think it will be a fun project for her.

Just Made: McCoy's Texas Chili

No, this has nothing to do with Colt McCoy. This recipe comes from Dave McCoy, a buddy of mine who lives down in LA.

After work on Friday, I stopped by Safeway to get the ingredients for the chili. $70 later, I walked out of there with two pounds ground beef, two pounds of London Broil, two pounds of pork chorizo, eight jalapenos, five red bell peppers, two heads of garlic, two onions, bay leaves, cilantro, basil and assorted spices.

Yes, this is enough chili to feed the Seahawks offensive line... with leftovers for the kickers.

The only difficulties I had were purely mechanical. I don't eat canned food, well, ever. So opening the can of whole tomatoes took about 10 minutes due to the crappiness of my can opener. I wasn't sure the damn thing was ever going to open. The other issue is that my disposal got stuck and I had sink full water that I needed to drain. It's always perilous sticking your hand down a machine that wants to eat it, but I eventually got it to work.

From a cooking standpoint, the hardest part for me was roasting the peppers, something I had never done. I took the five bell peppers, coated them with olive oil, then stuck them under the broiler. I flipped them three times until they were nearly completed blackened. I let them sit for a bit, then I was supposed to put them in a plastic bad. Unfortunately, I didn't let them cool long enough, and they ended up melting the bag.

Once cooled, I peeled off the blackened skin, leaving pure, juicy roasted peppers. You know how after you suck off the burned part of your roasted marshmallow and you have that hot, soft marshmallow goodness? These peppers are like that.

Eventually, everything ended up in a pot. A giant pot. I simmered it for four hours before going to bed. Then, following direction, I turned off the heat and let the pot sit overnight. This was to develop "the funk." The next morning, I simmered it for another two hours, then stuck it in the fridge. An hour before eating it, I poured in a beer, and let simmer for another hour.

The end result is the best chili I've ever eaten. In fact, nothing else even close. It's spicy and meaty, but the bell peppers and cinnamon give it a bit of sweetness. The cilantro and basil also help off-set the fire. I would invite to eat some, but I'm doing miraculously well at eating it all myself!

Just Made: Shrimp Risotto w/Seared Scallop and Truffle Oil

Yow. I nailed this one. Making risotto isn't really hard. It's just time consuming because you have you have actively cook for about an hour, if you include prep and reduction time.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in New York for my friend's 40th birthday party. The dinner, at Spina, was wonderful. It was three courses, and each course was excellent. My favorite dish, though, was Beet Risotto. It was then that I realized that I just loved Risotto and hadn't made it in about five years.

So, fast forward to the past weekend. I went to Pike Place Market on Saturday and picked up the shrimp, scallops, and truffle oil. The rest of the ingredients, I grabbed from the supermarket.

Making risotto is quite simple, but again, it's just very time consuming. Basically, you have two pans going... one with the rice/veggie/meat mixture, the other with the liquid base. In this case, the rice was simmering with onions and garlic. The shrimp is added at the very end. The liquid base consisted of three 8-oz bottles of clam juice and chicken stock. As the rice is cooking, you add one cup of the liquid until it's totally absorbed by the rice, then you add another cup, and so on until the rice is cooked.

It took about 35 minutes to reduce the risotto mixture. Then I just topped the risotto with the seared scallop, the yummy (and stupidly expensive) truffle oil and chopped chives.

All in all, I felt like a rock star when I tasted it. It was so good! If I can ever get another woman into my apartment, I'm going to make some form of risotto. It would actually be fun to make with someone else because it's very hands on. 

From My Kitchen: Spaghetti with Clams and Caprese Salad

I woke up this morning and decided I wanted to make myself dinner. Since it was such a nice day, I decided to stroll down to the Pike Place Market to grab some fresh veggies and clams.

When I returned, I prepared two dishes: a spaghetti w/clams and bacon from this month's issue of Gourmet, and a Tyler Florence Caprese salad.

I have to admit, I'm not much of a cook, so when my food turns out, it's a minor miracle. In this case, I succeeded on both dishes!

The Caprese salad, which took all of five minutes to prepare, was a simple matter of combining a vine ripe tomato, a 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil. There was really no way for me to mess it up.

On the spaghetti, I fudged the Gourmet recipe, so I could've messed it up. First, the recipe called for grilled clams and the 'sauce' to be prepared over a barbecue. However, living in an apartment with no access to a fire, this was not possible. So I steamed the clams (using a little water and some of the excess fat of the bacon to try to make them a little smoky) and just sauteed the sauce. Ramps are in season, so I added those and cut down a little on the parsley and garlic. It turned out splendid. Despite having bacon, the dish is very light. The sauce is based on lemon, olive oil, dried red peppers and garlic, so it's quite snappy. I loved this. It serves 4, so I'll be eating for the next two days. Sue me, I like big portions!