arancini

Did you like that food cliff-hanger?

Well by now you've probably guessed I was going to use the leftover risotto to make arancini (aka "little oranges" aka "risotto balls"). This recipie is kind of genius. It's like some food mastermind (or evil mad scientist if you're on a diet, I suppose) took a look at risotto and thought, "How can I make this cheesey rice even better. Of course! I'll stuff it with more cheese and deep-fry it!" Anonymous inventor of the arancini, I salute you.

Side tangent: I have an ongoing debate with my friend Denise about whether or not recipes are invented or evolve. Denise does not believe that for instance, one person came up with the sandwich. Nevermind that Earl of Sandwich story, she thinks he just got the credit for what lots of people over the globe were doing for years. The conversation original started over Nutella and whether or not one person (a person I'd like to give a very big hug to) figured out how amazing melted chocolate and hazelnut is together before spreading the word around. She thinks recipes just happen instinctively and therefore the same recipie must happen in lots of kitchens all the time. I do agree with her on things that are very basic, like baking potatoes, and I also think there should be a category for accidents (popcorn!), but I think someone invented arancini. Denise says this makes me a food-creationist.

ingredients:

leftover cold risotto (I had about 2 cups)
2 eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (plus more for the crust)
mozzarella cheese
vegetable oil

Cut about 10 cubes of mozzarella 1in in size

Beat eggs in mixing bowl. Stir in risotto and breadcrumbs. Mix well with your hands.

Roll risotto mixture into balls about the size of a small clementine. Poke cheese cubes into center and roll again until the outside is smooth

Roll risotto balls in a plate or small bowl of breadcrumbs until sides are completely coated

Heat vegetable oil in large frying pan

Fry until golden brown on all sides. Depending on how deep your pan is, you will probably have to roll them around a lot to get the crust to cook evenly.

Drain on paper towel for a few minutes to absorb excess oil. Just try to wait until they cool.

saffron mushroom risotto

I recently came into a large bag of spices from Egypt thanks to my coworker, who got them from a friend and thought I would get more use out of it since I, "make a lot of that vegetarian stuff". I'm not exactly sure what everything is (guesses in comments are welcome, as is coming over to my house and sniffing for yourself). Saffron is something I never buy because it's expensive, so I was excited to try out my usual risotto recipe with a new spice. Since the vegetables get stirred in at the very last few minutes of cooking the dish, its easy to make a couple different versions at once. James had his with green peas, which is why I'm tagging this as 'james approved' when my version has *gasp* mushrooms. I also like to make a version using sweet potatoes and lots of rosemary. Risotto is just cheesy rice, so the possibilities of what you can add are endless. Keep in mind this takes awhile to make, so its not a good rush dinner choice.

1 1/2 cups arborio rice
4 cups vegetable stock
one small onion chopped
2tb butter or olive oil
pinch of saffron (about 1/4 tsp)
mushrooms or other vegetables (for my half portion I used about 5-6 cooking mushrooms and 1 cup of green peas for the other half)
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Heat vegetable stock in saucepan on low heat until simmering.

In a large frying pan or saucepan melt butter (or add olive oil) and cook onion on low heat until clear

Add arborio and saffron stirring so butter coats all the rice. Allow to cook for a few minutes.

Add about 1/2 cup of vegetable stock and stir until the liquid is totally absorbed by the rice. Repeat process until you've used up your vegetable stock and rice is soft but not mushy. I taste it before every new addition of stock just to keep track. If at the very end you run out of stock and the rice is not quite done, you can always use hot water.

This process will take about 20-30 minutes so now is a good time to call you Mom, put on some record you haven't listen to in a long time, or master the art of reading and stirring (not recommended if it's a library book and you are a messy chef).

While rice is busy absorbing you can cook your vegetables in a separate frying pan. I sauteed the mushrooms with a couple cloves of chopped garlic and a little olive oil.

Once rice is finished cooking, stir in your vegetables and cheese. You may want to add some salt or pepper to taste depending on which vegetable stock you buy.

If you end up with leftovers, consider yourself lucky. You'll see why in the next post...

sweet potato and black bean hash

This recipe came from a kind of food version of the telephone game. On nights where I'm eating something horribly green and full of produce James sometimes makes a hash he altered from an Emeril recipie his mom had. After seeing it a few times and being jealous of his meal, I decided to make a vegetarian version subbing black beans for the meat. My other changes include a sweet potato along with the regular baking potato, another pepper, and some extra spices (since the sausage in the original recipie probably adds most of the flavor to the dish, right?). This makes a lot of servings so I've been eating it with hard boiled eggs (in place of the baked) for lunches. Also the leftovers would make a great bottom level to baked eggs or in a breakfast burrito.


ingredients:

1 16 oz can black beans
1 baking potato
1 sweet potato
1 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1/2 onion
1tb olive oil
2tbs spicy mustard
cayenne pepper, chili powder, and adobe seasoning to taste (about 1/4 tb of each)
2 eggs (per dish)

preheat oven to 450 degrees

In large skillet (non stick or cast iron would be best) fry chopped onions and pepper in oil until peppers are soft

Stir in black beans and spices

Grate both potatoes and drain as much water as possible before adding to the frying mixture. Stir in mustard.

Pat down with your spatula and cook until bottom starts to brown. Flip sections and repeat until potatoes starts to get crispy.

Spoon serving of hash into oven safe bowl. Crack eggs on top and bake until thoroughly cooked.