Sweet corn risotto, scallop and shrimp skewers, Eric Ripert's arugula and yogurt salad

This plate of food epitomizes dinner in August to me. A corn risotto topped with a chopped tomato and basil salad, skewers of bay scallops and shrimp spiced with a creole seasoning, and a refreshing arugula salad with yogurt dressing.

The salad is from Eric Ripert's amazing cookbook A Return to Cooking. It almost works as a palate cleanser with the meal and is a perfect accompaniment to the creamy risotto and seafood. His recipe calls for goat's milk yogurt, chives and pine nuts. I omitted the pine nuts and chives and used regular yogurt and it still was delicious.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH YOGURT DRESSING

1/2 cup yogurt
1 tsp minced shallot
1/4 tsp minced garlic
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2 large bunches arugula

- In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate.

- To serve, place arugula in a bowl, and just enough dressing to lightly coat the arugula and toss.

Spring Barley and Millet Risotto with Ramps, Mushrooms and Roasted Asparagus

I'm obviously on a barley kick. It's also ramp and asparagus season and I try to use them in as many ways possible while I can get my hands on them as well as some of the beautiful mushrooms I'm seeing at the Dill Pickle! I saw this recipe from 101 Cookbooks and adapted it to feature some spring vegetables.

1/2 cup millet
1 1/4 cup barley
1 bunch ramps, bulbs and greens separated
1/2 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and spears cut into 1 inch chunks
1/3 lb (approx.) shiitake mushrooms
1/3 lb (approx.) oyster mushrooms
Broth and water (ideally this would be about 5-6 cups chicken or vegetable stock, however, I only had a few cups so I added water as well)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Parmesan
1/2 Tbsp butter
Harissa

-Preheat oven to 400

-Rinse millet and add to a small sauce pan with 1 1/2 cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the water is evaporated and millet is cooked through. Add additional water as needed. Remove from heat and set aside

-Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Toss the asparagus pieces with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in oven about 10-15 minutes or until slightly browned. Set aside

-Put water and stock into a small sauce pan and warm on stove.

-Meanwhile start the barley risotto. Slice ramps bulbs thinly. Add about 2 Tbsp olive oil to a large stock pot and sautee ramps with salt and pepper until tender. Add barley and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add stock/water mixture a ladelful or two at a time while stirring. As liquid is absorbed keep adding liquid by the ladleful. This process will take awhile.

-Wipe and slice all of the mushrooms. In a large saute pan heat a Tbsp or 2 of olive oil and saute the mushrooms until just starting to brown. Set aside.

-Slice the ramp greens into small pieces. As the barley is getting close to being done, stir the greens in a handful at a time

-Add grated parmesan (how much is your preference) and 1/2 Tbsp butter to barley and stir

-Add 1/2 or 3/4 of the cooked millet and more liquid if needed.

-Add the set aside asparagus and mushrooms to pot and stir to incorporate. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and add lemon juice.

*For an extra kick I added a teaspoon full of harissa

**You can make this recipe with just the barley or farro, or even try it as an actual risotto with arborio rice!

Ny Strip Steak, Fennel Risotto, Mushroom Ragout and Rapini

Friday night and what better way to unwind from the week and kick off the weekend than to spend some quality time in the kitchen with Jason!

We were both craving some red meat and the strip steaks at whole foods looked delicious.  The most recent issue of Food & Wine featued Stephanie Izard's recipe for Mixed Mushroom Ragout which we had been wanting to try, and I am a sucker for anything with fennel, resulting in our fennel risotto.  We had some rapini in the fridge that needed to be used and added the perfect amount of green to the plate!

Jason decided to break out the molecular gastronomy kit to use up some leftover coconut milk I had in the fridge and create a delicious and beautiful dessert with blackberries and a little hand done whipped cream!

Fennel and Fontina Risotto

I love fennel and anything fennel flavored.  I was committed to making this fennel risotto before we had even decided what the rest of the meal would entail.  Luckily, it was a great compliment to the strip steaks and mushroom ragout.  I was afraid it might end up a little bland, especially with the stronger flavors of the rest of the meal, but the fennel flavor really comes through, enhanced by the fontina and the dish stood out on its own.

You can also watch Jason plating the risotto with his new ring molds here

For the recipe follow the link

Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto

What better in spring than an asparagus risotto?  Very little.  A relatively simple risotto recipe using leftovers in the fridge that made for a delicious and simple dinner.  I added the pre-cooked vegetables to the risotto at the very end which preserved the freshness of their flavor.

ASPARAGUS AND MUSHROOM RISOTTO

1/2 large bunch of asparagus, cleaned and sliced on the diagonal
4 oz or so shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup white wine
chicken stock (feel free to sub. vegetable or mushroom stock)
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 white onion
1 shallot
olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
salt
pepper
fresh grated parmesan
lemon zest
handful chopped parsley

In a small sauce pan, add the broth and heat over Low

Prepare a bowl with ice water.  In a larger sauce pan bring heavily salted water to a boil.  Add the asparagus and blanch until bright green (just a couple of minutes).  Submerge in the ice water to stop the cooking, drain and set aside.

In a sautee pan, heat a little olive oil and sautee mushrooms until their liquid is released and reabsorbed.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large stock pot heat oil and butter over Medium-High.  Add the onion and shallot, season with salt and pepper and cook until onions have softened. 

Add the arborio rice and sautee, stirring constantly, until rice becomes translucent.

Add white wine and cook, stirring constantly, until liquid is absorbed.

Add warmed stock one ladle at a time, stirring the whole time.  Once liquid is absorbed, add the next ladleful.  Continue stirring and occasionally tasting to test the texture of the rice.

When rice is almost done, stir in asparagus and mushrooms, continuing to stir.  Grate in some lemon zest and a healthy dose of parmesan.  Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. 

Turn off heat and stir in fresh parsley.

Easter Sunday 2010

We had a very nice, uncharacteristically mellow Easter Sunday!  J and I offered to help and created a delicious easter menu.

BAKED HAM

RISOTTO WITH MIXED MUSHROOMS, LEEKS AND PEAS

ASPARAGUS WITH GOAT CHEESE AND ARUGULA SAUCE

Recipes to follow soon!

Farro Risotto

J has been talking for weeks about wanting to make a risotto using farro instead of the usual arborio rice.  The dish has been tasted by him, me, my mother and one of my co-workers and everyone gave it rave reviews!

The farro is nutty and earthy, and yet consistency-wise the dish comes off much lighter than the typical risotto.  The shiitake mushrooms went perfectly with the farro and this was a great way to use the Upton's Naturals Italian Sausage-Style Seitan we picked up at the co-op. 

FARRO RISOTTO

1 1/4 cups farro
32 oz homemade chicken stock (or vegetable stock for an entirely vegetarian dish)
1 - 2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 large spanish onion diced
6 oz shiitake mushrooms sliced
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp dried herbs de provence
pinch (abt 1/2 tsp) crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 package (4 oz) Upton's Naturals Italian Style Sausage-Seitan
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano
large handful chopped parsley
salt and pepper
squeeze fresh lemon

In a small sauce pan, warm the stock over low heat.

In a large pan, heat oil over medium/medium-high heat.  Add onions, salt and pepper lightly and sautee until translucent.

Add shiitake mushrooms and garlic, stirring while sauteeing for about 3 more minutes or until the mushrooms start to wilt.

Add farro and continue cooking for about 4 minutes.  Add white wine and cook until wine almost entirely evaporates.

One ladleful at a time, add the stock to the farro mixture and stir until liquid is almost absorbed.  Continue adding stock 1 ladle at a time, allowing the farro to absorb most of the liquid until the farro puffs up and breaks the husk, taste for consistency.  For this recipe we used all but almost 1 ladleful of the 32 oz.

Midway through adding the stock, add the red pepper flakes and herbs de provence.

Near the end, in a separate sautee pan, brown the italian sausage-style seitan.

When farro is desired consistency, remove from heat, stir in the cheese, parsley, 1 Tbsp butter and seitan.

Salt and pepper to taste and add a squeeze of lemon!

Pumpkin Sage Risotto

Earlier this week I became slightly obsessed with roasting a pumpkin, so I did it.  It's easy, simply cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and threads and put face down on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for about an hour (plus or minus depending on the size of the pumpkin).

Now, I have a big batch of pumpkin puree that I need to do something with!  Last night, while I was out with friends eating crepes, Jason stayed home and made pumpkin risotto.  I just had a little for breakfast (I love leftover risotto for breakfast) and it was quite good!  Jason and I do not see eye to eye on the use of sage, so his dish had a little more than I would care for but that's my only comment.  He served the risotto as an accompaniment to a chicken breast with pesto. 

PUMPKIN SAGE RISOTTO

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

1/2 onion diced
2 garlic cloves minced
5-6 cups of chicken stock
3/4 cup white wine
Pecorino (1/4 - 1/2 cup grated)
Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
8 fresh sage leaves chopped (to taste)
Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper

In a sauce pan bring the stock to an almost simmer and keep warm.

In a large pot sautee the onion in oil with salt and peper until onion is softened. 

Add the garlic and rice.  Sautee until rice starts becoming translucent.

Add the white wine and stir until liquid is abosrbed and alcohol is gone (about 3 minutes).

Add 1 ladle full of stock to the rice.  Stir until liquid is absorbed.  Continue adding stock one ladle at a time until the rice is cooked.

Just before it is finished, add the pumpkin, sage, a dash of nutmeg, the butter and additional salt and pepper to taste.  Grate the pecorino into the dish.  Stir until pumpkin is heated through.  Add a dash of apple cider vinegar to brighten up the flavors.  Enjoy!