Tag: Cooking — Recipes

Some of you may remember my ill-fated attempt to make up my own risotto recipe a few months back — and yes, unlike most cooks who probably design recipes after mastering the cooking technique, I had decided to create my own risotto recipe without ever having made risotto before.  The result:  a bland and overly onion-y risotto, the result of not knowing how to properly spice the dish and using water instead of a flavored broth while probably overcooking the dish.  

Following that "learning" experience, I decided to step away from risotto for awhile, and instead try my luck at another rice-based dish, paella, which I thought would be far easier to master — but unfortunately despite the saffron and heavy amounts of other spices, also turned out to be fairly bland.  I think the combination of these experiences finally taught me that maybe I should first actually learn how to make a specialized dish using a professional recipe, and then perhaps customize it to my tastes (an amazing revelation, I know — this reminds me of the America's Test Kitchen commercial in which Chris Kimball says something like "ever heard someone say that 'I don't need a recipe for that'" and then there are scenes of cooking gone wrong).  

To that end, I recently used this Epicurious.com recipe for a butternut squash and leek risotto, and it was not only much, much better than the previous version I tried, it also ended up being the best risotto I've ever had.  Even when I eat risotto at fine quality restaurants, I admit getting a bit tired of the consistency and flavors about halfway through the dish.  This recipe addresses the consistency issue by mixing both intact butternut squash chunks and arborio rice, and keeps the flavors diverse with the inclusion of both fresh sage and sauteed leeks.  I highly recommend this recipe, and look forward to making this dish again in a few weeks — it's simply too good to not make it into my regular cooking rotation!  

I encourage everyone to try this — I think its an especially great dish to make for guests, as this recipe makes about 6 meal servings or 8 side servings, rather than the 4/6 the recipe states.  And while I have gobbled up the leftovers, it does taste best right after its made, so would be great to make for a larger group.  The only modifications I made to this recipe were:  using a stockpot instead of a large skillet simply because this recipe required a much larger skillet than any that I have — and I didn't notice a difference at all in consistency or cooking time, using about 1.5 large leeks instead of 3 leeks because I found 1.5 leeks were enough to produce the recipe's 3 cups of finely sliced light green and white parts, substituting about 5.5 cups of vegetarian stock for the 6 cups of chicken stock, and buying what seemed to be a medium-size butternut squash instead of a large one — it may have actually been a two-pound squash but did seem like it was noticeably smaller than some of the really large sizes you see at the grocery store.  And finally, the best part — while risotto can be a bit time-consuming to make, I did feel that the amount of stirring I had to do burned off the calories of what I ultimately consumed 🙂

I picked up some broccoli last weekend at the local farmer's market with the intention of making my mom's Indian broccoli dish.   By the middle of the week though, I hadn't used the broccoli and I had just put my pizza stone in the oven to pre-heat when I realized that I shouldn't wait to use the broccoli, and instead make a broccoli pizza that night!  

Backing up a little bit, I have been a bit negligent about blogging about my favorite new pizza dough recipe — the first I have used to make my own pizza dough instead of buying the delicious refrigerated kind from Trader Joe's.  Given how relatively new I am to cooking, I have never actually used yeast in any of my dishes, and I admit that the nervousness about using it has made me hold back from making my own breads and doughs.  Finally though, I decided that it was about time for me to become a true cook, use one of the yeast packets in my cupboard, and just make my own pizza dough at home.  I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com, and I couldn't find it easier to use and the result is AMAZING.  The flavor of the crust is literally mouth-watering, and letting the dough rise in the fridge instead of a more hands-on dough recipe is perfect for my busy schedule during the week.  Ever since I started making this crust a few weeks ago, we probably make it at least once a week.  I highly, HIGHLY suggest that anyone interested in making pizza at home try this recipe as soon as possible!

So moving forward to the broccoli-inspired pizza, for the first time, I decided to substitute two cups of whole wheat flour for two of the cups of bread flour called for in the recipe.  Although the yeast flavor didn't come out as much with the whole wheat version of the dough, it still tasted pretty amazing.  I paired the pizza with my standard pizza sauce, which is also a user-submitted Allrecipes.com entry that I have altered.  I also included about 2 cups of grated low moisture mozzarella cheese, and 5 cloves of garlic. 

The full recipe, which serves approximately 2 – 3 individuals, is:

Ingredients

• 1/2, or one dough ball, from this Brooklyn-style pizza dough recipe.  Substitute two cups of whole wheat flour for two cups of the bread flour for a healthier crust.  
• 1/2 of this pizza sauce recipe.  I highly recommended making the sauce a day before, when you make the pizza dough, to allow the flavors to blend together.
• 2 cups grated low-moisture mozzarella (can be part-skim if you desire)
• 2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 large jalapeno, finely sliced and then chopped (optional, depending on your preference)
• vegetable oil for sauteing broccoli

Directions

• Pre-heat pizza stone in the oven at 550 degrees for at least 45 minutes
• At the same time, remove the pizza dough and sauce from the fridge to allow both to come to room temperature.  Chop the vegetables and garlic, and grate the cheese.
• Heat on medium-high heat about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a skillet or frying pan.  Once hot, add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about one to two minutes depending on the heat of the pan.
• Add the broccoli and saute for approximately 5 – 7 minutes.  I recommend covering the broccoli for at least 4 – 5 minutes to allow it to steam a bit.  Once the broccoli is cooked to your taste, remove it from the heat.
• Press or toss the pizza dough according to your crust preference, and form into a 12-inch circle, using a lot of flour to ensure the pizza does not stick to your pan or peel.  
• Once stone is hot, remove from the oven, and quickly place pizza dough on surface.  Add sauce and toppings immediately, and place back in the oven at the top rack (in my oven, the top rack is the coolest — would avoid the hottest place in your oven to avoid the cheese getting prematurely burned).  There is no need to pre-heat this pizza crust before adding the toppings, as long as the dough is at room temperature.  If it is not, I would recommend pre-heating for about a minute.
• Keep in oven for approximately 4 – 5 minutes, or until the crust is fully cooked (testing by pricking a knife into any thick parts of the dough, and checking the inside of the dough) and the cheese is bubbly.  I would recommend watching the pizza closely toward the end of the baking period to ensure the cheese doesn't start to burn.
• Remove from the oven, let sit for approximately 2 – 3 minutes, and then use a pizza cutter to cut and serve.

Enjoy — you definitely will!

In January, I made the bold purchase of a paella pan.  And to follow up that self-described "bold" move, I attempted my first paella…7 months later.  Unfortunately, it was not a wait well worth it — the result of my impromptu paella was bland, and there were LOTS of leftovers (though I admit all of the leftovers were consumed with lots of Sriracha, which certainly made it tastier).   In any case though, it was a good way to use a lot of random CSA veggies, even if it meant eating them with a lot of Sriracha.

Below the picture, I provide the ingredients I used and directions, followed by tips that I think will help make the paella tastier next time (and no vegetarian paella skeptics, none of those tips involve using meat!). 

 
Ingredients (for approximately 6 – 8 servings)

• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 large green bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 medium orange bell pepper, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips
• Approx. 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. saffron
• 1 small jalapeno, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1 cup brown basmati rice (only because I realized I only had one cup of arborio)
• Olive oil

Directions

1)  Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2)  Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in paella pan on medium-high heat (you may need to use two burners depending on the size of your paella pan.
3)  Add garlic and onion, and saute for approximately 5 minute until the onions cook down.
4)  Add the sliced bell peppers, jalapeno and tomatoes and cook for approximately another five minutes.
5)  Add rice, saffron and paprika, stirring to incorporate rice into the entire vegetable mix.  Saute for 2 minutes.
6)  Add in the vegetable broth, stirring and increasing heat to high, and cook until the liquid starts to boil.
7)  Place pan into oven uncovered, and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed and rice is cooked.
8)  Serve immediately.

Preliminary Improvement Tips

Thanks to the advice of my friend Jonathan, it seems I can attribute a good chunk of the paella blandness to dramatic underspicing.  I should have used a few tsps. of pimenton instead of traditional paprika,  and used more saffron (and crumbled it) and salt.  Additionally, I should have definitely just stuck with a cooking a smaller amount of rice, and using only the arborio or other medium-grain rices because not only do they cook faster, they also are the necessary component to building the traditional paella "crust".  I also think I should have been more diligent about using two burners for my large paella pan to more evenly distribute high heat throughout the cooking, as well as using a higher heat (e.g., Bittman's recommended 450 degrees for his tomato paella recipe) to better achieve the crust as well. 

I'll definitely report back after I attempt another round of paella!