A Humble Risotto

Summer is approaching and the best thing to do to celebrate it is to use the best of summer vegetables. In this recipe I gave the humble risotto a lift by using a winning combination of tomato and basil. I slow-roasted the tomatoes in the oven to bring out the intense flavour and served it with some fresh and crunchy salad to balance the creaminess of the risotto. We invited one of our friends for dinner and served this risotto. It got good feedback from her -coincidently she's a vegetarian. But I think this risotto is good enough to serve to carnivores and it might change their mind about meat-free food.

Tomato and Basil Risotto with a Crunchy Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients:

200g arborio rice

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

a sprig fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 red or yellow pepper, sliced

1/3 courgette, sliced

1 cube vegetable stock diluted in 500ml boiling water

1 tbs crème fraiche 

75g cheddar cheese, grated

a handful fresh basil, roughly chopped

salt and pepper

For the salad:

5 radishes, thinly sliced

2 black or green olives, chopped

a handful salad cress

1 tbs sunflower seeds, dry roasted on a frying pan

1 tsp virgin olive oil

3 drops sesame or walnut oil

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

Start by preheating the oven to 140C, then arrange the halved tomatoes on a roasting tray, sprinkle with a teaspoon of caster sugar, season with salt and pepper and roast in the preheated oven for about 30-45 minutes. 


While the tomatoes are in the oven you can start preparing the ingredients for  the salad. For the salad dressing, in a bowl whisk the virgin olive oil, sesame oil, lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and set aside. 


For the risotto, heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan, add the onion and sweat until translucent. Add the garlic and thyme and continue cooking until fragrant, then add the rice, pepper and courgette and stir until all the rice is well covered with the oil. Keep stirring while adding ladlefuls of stock from time to time to the rice for about 15 minutes. Taste the rice for seasoning and texture, the rice should be 'al dente' soft on the outside but still has a bite in the middle. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water. 


Once the rice is cooked, add the slow roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, crème fraiche and grated cheddar into the pan and stir well. Turn the heat off and put the lid on the pan and let the risotto rest for 2 minutes. 


Meanwhile prepare the salad by tossing the radishes, salad cress, toasted sunflower seeds and chopped olives in a bowl with the dressing that you prepared earlier. Serve the risotto on a warm plate with a handful of the crunchy salad on top.

TheRumblingKitchen: Balinese Street Food III

TheRumblingKitchen: Balinese Street Food III: "I got a special request the other day from my wife, Clare to cook one of her many favourite Balinese foods. We call it 'Ayam Goreng Lalapan'..."

Balinese Street Food III

I got a special request the other day from my wife, Clare to cook one of her many favourite Balinese foods. We call it "Ayam Goreng Lalapan"; ayam goreng means fried chicken and lalapan means accompaniments. So basically it's a spicy deep fried chicken accompanied by some spicy tomato sauce (Sambal), yet another spicy Balinese salad and some steamed rice. Yes I mentioned a lot of spicy words here but don't be put off by it because you could always use less chilli to adjust to your own taste. I'm Balinese but to be honest I can't handle hot food as much as Clare can - I really trained her well. As I mentioned above the chicken in this dish should be deep fried until crispy but in this recipe I roasted the chicken instead, and the result was as good as deep frying but less greasy. I didn't put the recipe for the steamed rice as you can check it out on my fried rice recipe. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, the less well-known ingredients in this recipe, such as shrimp paste (fermented ground shrimp) and kaffir lime leaves, are widely available at your local Asian or Chinese supermarket.


Crispy Spicy Chicken Legs with Spicy Green Bean and Beansprout Salad and Spicy Tomato Sauce (Sambal).

Ingredients:

2 medium sized chicken legs

For the spice paste:

2 cloves garlic

1 shallot

2 inches lemongrass, chopped

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 candlenut or macadamia nut

half of red chilli

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbs coconut milk

salt and pepper

Crush all the spice paste ingredients in a blender or a food processor with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and then rub the mixture onto the chicken legs. Simmer the chicken legs in a pan on a medium heat with 150ml of water for about 20 minutes. After that continue to cook the chicken legs in a preheated oven at 180C in a roasting tin for about 20 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crispy. While the chicken is cooking you can start preparing the other components of the dish.

"Sambal"

For the "Sambal":

3 medium sized tomatoes

1 fat clove garlic

1 shallot

1 red chilli, less if you prefer it mild

1 kaffir lime leaf

1/4 tsp shrimp paste 
1 tsp brown sugar

salt

Blanch the tomatoes, chilli, garlic and shallot in boiling water for 3 minutes and then put in a blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend until it turns into a chunky paste. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a sauce pan and cook the sambal on a mediun heat for about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent from sticking.

For the spicy salad:
a handful beansprouts
100g green beans, chopped

3 shallots, finely sliced
1 clove garlic, finely sliced
1/2 chilli, finely sliced
a pinch shrimp paste (optional)
75g fresh coconut, shredded and dry toasted in a frying pan
2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp lime juice
salt and pepper


Blanch the green beans and the beansprouts for about 3 minutes in a pan of boiling water, after that refresh in cold water, drain and set aside in a bowl. Fry the sliced shallot, garlic, chilli and shrimp paste (if using) in a pan with hot oil until crispy. Add the fried shallot mixture into the bowl of boiled green beans and beansprouts together with the toasted fresh coconut, thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves, lime juice, salt and pepper and toss with your hand until properly mixed.


Serve the crispy chicken legs on top of the spicy green bean and beansprout salad, a portion of warm steamed rice, a blob of the "sambal" and some "kecap manis" (Indonesian style sweet soy sauce) on the side. Eat while it's still hot.