food hits and misses

I recently joined a cookbook challenge with the goal of getting some of my very neglected books out of the cupboard and into use. The rules are pretty simple; each week has a theme, the goal is to find a recipe, cook it and blog it by Monday.

The theme for this week is comfort food, which posed a bit of a problem. For me, comfort food doesn't normally appear in a cook book. It's stuff like cheese on toast, or baked potatoes with chilli beans. But then I started thinking about other things that I like to eat on a cold winter day, and decided it would have to be something you can cook in the slow cooker or a Le Creuset. The Le Creuset won in the end, mostly because I wasn't home at the time when I would have needed to get the slow cooker going.

The recipe I chose was Risotto Verde from Tasty Vegetarian (Quick and Easy Series).

Use a good stock or run the rick of getting a really bland risotto. I garnish with parmesan and toasted pine nuts, too.

Risotto verde

1.75 litres vegetable stock
2 tbspn olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 leeks, shredded
225g arborio rice
300 ml dry white wine
4 tbspn chopped mixed herbs
225g baby spinach
3 tbspn natural yoghurt
salt an pepper

Method

Pour the stock into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Menawhile heat the oil in a separate pan. Add the garlic and leeks and saute over a low heat, stirring occasionally for 2 -3 minutes, until softened. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring until each grain is coated with oil. Pout in half of the wine and a little of the hot stock. Cook over a low heat until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Add the remaining stock and the wine, a little at a time, and cook over a low heat for 25 minutes, or until the rice is creamy. Stir in the chopped mixed herbs and baby spinach. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the yoghurt. Garnish and serve immediately.

No photo of this meal - it was so delicious we ate it before I had time to get the camera out! I'll definitely be making it again, though, so will probably get around to adding a picture later.

Generally speaking, I use cook books for inspiration, rather than always religiously following recipes. So nine times out of ten, if I'm cooking something from a tradition outside my own, it's probably not going to be all that authentic. Still, if the end result is something yum, I'm not all that concerned about how close to the original it is.

Last night's dinner was based on a recipe for sole with coconut and ginger. With a distinct lack of sole in the house, I substituted flathead, and mixed a few other things around to match what was in the fridge. For the original recipe, try The Brazilian Kitchen, which is where I got my inspiration.

Flathead with coconut and ginger

For the topping:
1 tbspn olive oil
1 green capsicum, seeded and chopped
1 red capsicum, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

For the sauce
1 tbspn olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbspn ginger, minced or grated
1 red onion, chopped
100 ml lime juice (around 3 limes)
300 ml vegetable stock
270 ml coconut milk

200g flathead fillets
1/4 cup flour
2 tbspn butter
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the capsicum and onion. Saute until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and continue cooking for another minute. Remove from heat and set aside. In another pan, heat the remaining olive oil and add the onion, garlic and ginger. Saute until the onion is translucent. Add the lime juice and reduce by around half. Add the stock and bring to the boil before adding the coconut milk. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture has thickened and reduced. Dredge the fish in seasoned flour. Heat the butter in a large pan. Cook the fish until it is golden on each side. To serve, sprinkle the capsicum mix on top of the fish then spoon over sauce. Serve with arrox loco or ensalata palmito.

Years ago I lived in a small town that had a tiny Thai restaurant. It was my first experience of Thai food, and to be honest, it was so long ago, I can't remember if it was authentic or more Westernized. Still, it set me on my way to absolutely loving Thai food.

One dish that stood out as particularly yum was their sticky rice, served as a dessert. This afternoon I suddenly felt like trying to recreate it. This is my version. Super sweet, very creamy and definitely bad for you. I'm sure it could be modified to be lower in fat, but if you don't have to, why would you?

Sticky rice

1 cup glutinous rice
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 tspn coconut essence
2 - 3 bananas

Method

Combine rice, coconut milk, coconut cream, sugar and water in a large saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until most of the water is gone, leaving a thick and creamy mixture surrounding softened rice. Remove for heat. Add the coconut essence and stir well. Mash the bananas and stir through the rice. Serve hot or cold.

For variations, try adding a tspn of cinnamon and replacing the coconut essence with vanilla. Replace the banana with apple or sultanas. Or add 1/2 - 1 tspn ground cardamon and forego the fruit altogether.

The Christmas rush has officially come to an end at our house. Even though the tree and lights will stay up until the twelfth day of Christmas, the festive cooking has pretty much come to an end. The up side to this is that I've finally got time to catch up on some of the things I made during the mad rush.



Our first festive meal for the year was dinner on Christmas Eve. I wanted something special, but not too heavy considering the amount of food that would be handed around on Christmas Day. So for our main meal, we had a stuffed baked snapper with roquette and parmesan salad. Based on a Caribbean fish dish crossed with a paella stuffed snapper, the stuffing was the star of the show. Any large white fish would be suitable; if you can't find snapper, try trevally or red emperor.

Stuffed snapper

1.5 kg whole baby snapper, cleaned and scaled
2 tbspn olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, sliced and seeded
2 cups cooked saffron rice
200g cooked prawn meat, chopped
3 tbspn fresh coriander, chopped
lemon pepper to taste
Lime to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cut three large slits in the side of the fish. Drizzle with around half the olive oil and season with lemon pepper. Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan. Saute the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and chilli and saute until garlic is soft and fragrant. Add the prawns and rice and stir to heat through. Remove from heat and stir through chopped coriander. Open the fish cavity and make sure it's clean. If the fish needs washing, use salt water only - fresh water will remove some of the flavour. If you're unsure, wipe the cavity with a cut lime and set aside for ten minutes. Once the fish is clean enough, place as much stuffing as will fit inside the cavity. Spear the sides with bamboo skewers, then lace shut with cooking twine. Place in a large roasting pan and bake until the eyes turn white - anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the fish. Serve with lime wedges and salad