Smokin’ Risotto

Here is the recipe for the risotto I mentioned, that I made the IKEA bread to go with. It is adapted from a recipe in Woman’s Day magazine, that I came across whilst flicking through mags at the hairdresser recently. I still had the Huon hot smoked salmon from Tasmania that I won on Valentine’s Day, so the recipe caught my eye.

If you haven’t got access to hot smoked salmon, just poach/steam some fresh salmon fillets in the microwave instead, and flake them into the rice mixture.

This risotto is amazing! I mean it. Complete and utter melt-in-your-mouth perfection that just comes together in a moment of pure food delight.

Salmon & Pea Risotto

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 small red chillies, finely chopped

2 cups arborio rice

½ cup white wine

5 cups chicken stock

¾ cup frozen peas, thawed

¾ cup fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed

3 tbsp fresh tarragon leaves, chopped

1 lemon – zest and juice of

250 gms hot smoked salmon fillet (or equivalent cooked fresh salmon fillet, skinless)

cracked pepper, to taste

optional – shaved fresh parmesan cheese

In a large, deep pan (a wok is good), heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and chillies and saute, stirring, for 2 minutes until softened.

Add rice, stirring to coat, and saute for 1 minute.

Add the wine and then the chicken stock, gradually, stirring constantly as the liquid absorbs into the rice. When all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked (15-20 minutes), add remaining ingredients and fold through until gently heated.

Top with a sprinkling of shaved parmesan if desired, and serve with fresh bread.

Serves 4-6 depending on what you have with it – it is quite filling.

Happy Fooding!

Anyone For Bröd?

I went to IKEA last week. This was a momentous occasion for me, because despite 4.5 years living here in Perth, and driving it past it frequently, this was my Very First Visit at the only WA IKEA store. I have been to IKEA in Victoria and South Australia, but many years ago.

Although I didn’t actually buy any furnishings, we did take a lot of photos with our phones, of things we want to go back and get when we move in to the new apartment shortly. It was exciting! Also very, very crowded – 5 minutes before opening time when we arrived, there were about 200 people waiting outside for the doors to open. Lots of people with kids too. Ugh. Once the place opened, however the crowds thinned out pretty quickly (yay for childminding and a ball pit!), and moving through the store was actually fairly painless.

I bought a silicone pot stand thing, a jar of herring roe (mmmmmmm) and at the last minute picked up a carton of Brödmix Flerkorn to try. I am a sucker for all things bread-related, especially dense, dark, chewy, thick, grainy chunks of bread, that have soooo much more flavour than dreary white bread.

I can’t believe how simple this bread was to make! It’s like pancake mix – just add water, shake it all up, pour, let it rise and then pop it into the oven. I really expected it to be a bit of a flop, although online searching turned up a LOT of big fans of this bread mix, all over the world.

The loaf came out quite heavy, and the edges were very crunchy – I thought it might taste very dry – possibly I left it in the oven for 5 minutes too long I think – a lesson for next time but of course it depends on the oven, and shortly I will be trying to get used to my lovely new one 🙂 Inside, however it was perfect – nutty, moist and VERY moreish!  It was perfectly suited as an accompaniment to risotto, made with the Huon hot smoked salmon that I won on Valentine’s Day 🙂

I have to go back to IKEA soon (yes, I HAVE to, right???) to buy a couple of the things that we earmarked the other day……I shall definitely be going back to the Swedish food market section, for more delicious Brödmix.

Happy Fooding!

Crazy For Cauliflower

I do like cauliflower. A lot. It doesn’t have to have cheese/white sauce on it or be anything too fancy, and I adore it as cauliflower rice. So the idea of roasting a cauliflower whole, slathered in a yoghurt/spice mixture, was something I could not resist trying when a friend shared the post on facebook recently. You can find the recipe here at PureWow blog.

This was very easy and smelt fantastic when cooking. I’m using an unfamiliar oven at the moment, whilst in my temporary home for a few weeks, and I wasn’t sure how it would go – it did start to burn on the top so I covered it with foil for the last 10 minutes.

The result was pretty good (apart from a pan with the bejeezus burnt out of it because I didn’t think to put baking paper underneath, and the yoghurt mixture kind of dripped down the sides like icing on a cake!), but I do think it needed something more. Maybe a type of gravy or some extra yoghurt, or a drizzle of lemon juice/EVOO would have given it a finishing touch. It was cooked beautifully without being soggy, which surprised me after such a long cooking time.

This would be well worth trying with broccoli too, I think! We had it with very easy Honey Baked Chicken, for a simple Sunday night lazy meal, as we’d already been out for lunch with friends at Edgecombe Bros winery in the Swan Valley. We had shared platters of delicious local nibbles, and tasted wines – a very relaxing way to spend a Summer Sunday afternoon!

Happy Fooding!

Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

Don’t be fooled by the title above and the ingredients below – this actually does not taste sweet! I think the soy sauce counter-balances the juice and sugar, making it just right.

Simple and tasty, this recipe is based on one of those random facebook postings that you get, designed as a sort of ad but giving you something to entice you into clicking the link. There are a lot of those popping up in people’s feeds lately I’ve noticed – not just recipes, but also a lot of home-remedy cleaning tips. I never click on the links, but I do sometimes write down the recipe ideas, and this one worked really well.

Definitely use thigh fillets here and not breast, as it will be way too dry with breast.

Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

1 kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed of any fat/skin

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup light soy sauce

cracked pepper

1 tbsp cornflour

2 tbsp cold water

1 cup sugar snap peas

Combine chicken, pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce and pepper in crockpot. Mix well and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.

Blend cornflour and water then add this and the peas, to the crockpot. Stir to blend and cook for a further 1 hour.

Serve with black rice, yoghurt & naan bread if desired.

Serves 4

Happy Fooding!

Shhhhh….The Kids Will Never Know It’s Not Rice

At the risk of totally boring you…..yes it’s cauliflower again! But does it look like it?? Not a bit.

I like to think I’m pretty much up there with the latest food trends, products and “in things”, but it was made clear to me last week (thanks Jane!) that I have missed the cauliflower rice phenomenon, completely and utterly.

I picked up a large cauli for $1.37 on Friday, so after scouring the e-world for many variations, this is my version of “fried rice” without rice. You can really use this in any way that you would use rice, and add anything you like. I really wanted the zing of fresh lemon juice/zest, plus a bit of pizzazz from chilli (not much, just a hint), and it worked beautifully, in fact I scoffed a bowl of this and thought omg how moreish is this.

Super healthy, versatile and soooooo easy if you have a food processor. As long as cauliflower stays cheap this will be a new staple food in my cooking. Plus you can freeze it in sandwich bags for future use, when cauli is in season.

There are many step-by-step photos around, of how to make cauliflower rice – just google and you’ll find plenty of recipe ideas. If you don’t have a food processor, use a cheese grater – works just as well but is more labour intensive and slower.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

1 large head of cauliflower

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp chilli paste (I like Masterfoods)

juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp vegetable stock

1/2 cup frozen peas

(and next time I’ll add some chopped coriander – just didn’t have any to hand this time)

Cut the cauliflower into florets (make sure it is completely dry)  and place in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped – should be rice sized grains.

Heat olive oil in a pan or wok. Add the onion and garlic, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Serves 6 as a side dish, or if you are having it on its own as a bowl of deliciousness, serves 3.

This is a perfect dish to serve fussy kids who like rice but won’t eat vegies – they’ll never know it’s not rice! You can make it plain without adding the onion etc too – just saute for 7-8 mins until “al dente”.

Happy Fooding!

 

Asparagus Risotto

Risottos are usually made with LOTS of butter, which doesn’t suit my low-fat lifestyle, so this is my reduced-fat version of a basic risotto. The only tricky thing here is to stir continually, whilst gradually adding the liquid – otherwise you get brown crusty bits in your risotto and your poor saucepan ends up with a burnt bum!

I usually use lemon juice, but this time added preserved lemon instead, from my recently made jar – wow, such a difference. Definitely worth it.

Risotto should be soup-y, so keep adding extra liquids if you need to. It is quite a bit more gluggy and stodgy the next day, so serve immediately if you are having guests, but leftovers (I like it cold, which by now should not surprise you…) are great in a bowl the next day if you don’t mind it being a bit more solid.

Asparagus Risotto

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2.5cm pieces

1 brown onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

2 tbsp basil pesto

3 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

1 tbsp lemon juice OR 1 wedge preserved lemon, finely chopped

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

cracked pepper, to taste

Heat oil and butter in a heavy based pan; saute onion and asparagus until onion is transparent. Add rice and pesto, and cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat well.

Mix wine and stock together in a jug, and slowly add to the rice, stirring constantly. Add bit by bit as the rice absorbs the liquid (if necessary, add extra chicken stock until the rice is cooked).

Add lemon, cheese and pepper, mix through and serve.

Serves 3-4.

Happy Fooding!

Teriyaki Chicken

Last week my mum recommended this recipe to me, from the One Pot Cooking book put out a couple of years ago by Super Food Ideas magazine. I LOVE this book! It is a compilation of no-fail, easy family recipes from one of my favourite food magazines. In fact, I could have sworn I had already shared the Chicken With Lemon & Olives recipe from it with you before (one of my all-time favourite recipes!), but I can’t find it anywhere here so I must not have. I will do that soon.

This is a perfect post-work-gee-I’m-too-tired-to-cook meal! And although I thought the chillies would have an impact, in fact I couldn’t taste anything “spicy” whatsoever.

Japanese Teriyaki Chicken

500 gms chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces

1/2 cup teriyaki marinade (the recipe says 1/4 cup but I felt that wasn’t enough)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups jasmine rice

2 long red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced

1 carrot, grated

1 bunch baby pak choy, trimmed, washed & roughly chopped

shredded nori (seaweed) OR black sesame seeds, for garnish

Combine chicken and marinade in a glass or ceramic dish and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a large saucepan and brown the chicken then set aside.

Add rice, water and a further splash of teriyaki marinade, to the saucepan, and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat to low. Place the chicken and chillies on top of the rice and cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Stir in carrot and pak choy and cook for a further 2 minutes until pak choy has wilted.

Top with nori or sesame seeds to serve.

Serves 4.

The recipe suggests that you can make this a Malaysian style dish rather than Japanese, by using satay sauce instead of teriyaki marinade, and garnishing with coriander instead of nori. Sounds good to me!

Happy Fooding!

Black Rice

SunRice have recently started selling black rice here, so I had to try some of course. Of course black rice is widely available if you have access to good Aisan markets, but I don’t at the moment.

I cooked it in the microwave (found the instructions here as they weren’t on the packet) and although it takes quite a bit longer to cook than even wholemeal rice (which I usually use as it has so much flavour than white, not to mention being better for you), it was worth the wait. Nutty flavours but not with that bitey “stick” flavour of the wild rice (which is a variety of black rice anyway) you get in a blend sometimes.

Overall I was pretty impressed – it went well with the beef stir-fry I threw together (no recipe, just made it up using whatever I could find) and I will definitely make it again.

Happy Fooding!

Elies Tent

Here’s another restaurant review for you…….I love Middle Eastern food – Lebanese, Arabian etc. so I was really looking forward to this meal at Elies Tent.

Overall opinion – quite nice, but not outstanding and I think I’ll try elsewhere before I go back again.

Hummus & Babaganoush

We had a banquet as this was the best value and is a good way to try a bit of everything. Whilst the dips were pretty good (hummus and babaganoush) I’m sure the pita bread to go with it was just a bought one from the supermarket – VERY dry and brittle – whereas it should be piping hot and soft, served freshly out of the oven.

Falafels & lamb puffs

The nibbles of falafels and lamb puffs were delicious, as were the lamb and chicken kebabs – a tad burnt but for my taste I didn’t mind that really.

Lamb & chicken kebabs

The tabbouleh was superb – lemony fresh and salt with loads of fresh flat-leafed parsley; my photo of that turned out blurry though 😦

Finally there was a big plate of rice, which was quite sweet with cinnamon, fruit and almonds in it – very gluggy – topped with shaved cooked chicken and lamb that was very dry. I ate as much as I could anyway as I hate waste, but in the end we really did leave quite a bit on the plates.

Meat & rice

It was worth a try, but I won’t go back there again except maybe for a big bowl of their tabbouleh one lunchtime!

Happy Fooding!

A Sushi & Sashimi Fix

You know that I love salmon beyond almost anything in life….and so it follows from there that I adore sushi and sashimi. In fact I adore raw tuna just as much as raw salmon, and if I get the chance to have really great raw fish I have a wonderful time.  I love all sorts of Japanese food, but I really think if you’re going to go to a Japanese restaurant you have to go with what they do best, which is amazing fresh sushi and sashimi. Divine, it just melts in your mouth, and no matter how full you get, you don’t get a bloated “omg I’ll never eat again” feeling like you do if you overload on pasta or Indian.

I’ve been to many delightful Japanese restaurants, in various countries. My favourite in the whole world (so far) is Matsuri in Adelaide. Now this is a very common restaurant name – there’s one here in Perth, and I’ve been to a Matsuri in Chile as well – not affiliated with each other in any way.  Matsuri in Adelaide does the most amazing “sushi boat” – see the second photo down the page, here. It’s such a relaxing experience, taking your time over a big pile of little bits, with lots of wasabi, pickled ginger, miso soup and a bottle of white wine (or 2, by the time you’ve finished eating – this is absolutely not fast eating).

I think my second best sushi/sashimi experience has been at Japan Restaurant at the Hotel Nippon, in Santiago (Chile). Unfortunately, as I am not likely to live there again, I won’t be going back there anytime soon 😦

Last weekend I went to Seizan here in the city. I’ve been here twice before, but not for a couple of years. Luckily I had booked, as whilst waiting outside beforehand I saw 2 groups of guests arrive and be turned away, as it was fully booked out.  Now this place is not the most fantastic Japanese I’ve had, but it certainly holds its own and is the better of the Perth options that I have tried to date.

Seizan is also in the Entertainment Book, so that meant a discount of $28 – nothing to be sneezed at!

We were the last to leave the restaurant, in fact they were prodding us to go as they were closing up! A very nice, spread out meal, leaving lovely flavours and textures to remember and go back for again.

Happy Fooding!