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Have Your Risotto and Get Your Whole Grains Too

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 2 Comments ↓

By Alison Ashton

As long as there’s a jar of arborio rice in the pantry, stock on hand, and a smidgen of leftover wine, I can bust out a hearty, comforting risotto for supper any evening. But because I’m expanding my repertoire of whole grains these days, I’m experimenting with different types of grains so I can have my risotto and eat it, too.

risotto-technique-post The term “risotto” refers to a method as well as a dish and involves gradually adding hot stock to a grain, which gently coaxes out the starch for a lovely creamy texture. It’s a technique that can be used to cook all kinds of grains, and the Italians have a long tradition of using the risotto method to prepare grains other than arborio rice. Heck, it even works with pasta.

The basic steps of risotto are simple and worth committing to memory so you can improvise:

Soffrito. Heat a little fat–olive oil, butter, lard (if you’re feeling decadent)–in a large, heavy pan (a saucepan, Dutch oven, or saute pan is fine) over medium heat. Add finely chopped aromatics (shallot, onion, carrot, and/or celery), and cook until tender. Add minced garlic, if you’re using it, and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.

Riso. Add the rice or other grain, and cook it a minute or two, stirring constantly. White rice like arborio or carnaroli will turn translucent; whole grains will get a bit toasty. Arborio and carnaroli are both types of short-grain, starchy rice, which makes for particularly creamy risotto. When using whole grains, you’ll want something similarly plump and starchy, like short- or medium-grain brown rice, farro, barley, or even steel-cut oats. I even made a pretty risotto recently with Madagascar pink rice. Long-grain rice and non-starchy whole grains like quinoa don’t lend themselves to the risotto method. These grains will still cook using the risotto technique, but they won’t become creamy.

Vino. Next, add a generous splash or two of wine, and cook, stirring the grains constantly, until the wine is absorbed. White wine is traditional. In a pinch, I’ll use dry vermouth. Rose, sake, or even sherry or red wine also work.

Brodo. Risotto requires liquid, which can be hot water, stock (chicken, vegetable, beef, our Mushroom Stock, fish), or even milk. Whole-grain risotto requires more liquid than risotto made with white rice. The Whole Grains Council has a general guideline for grain-to-liquid ratios, and you can always supplement with extra water if you need more liquid. Add the hot liquid a little at time, stirring frequently, until it’s absorbed before adding the next ladleful. The risotto is done when the grain becomes creamy and al dente–tender, but not mushy.

Condimento. Risotto is a rich canvas to showcase seasonal ingredients–delicate English peas or asparagus in spring, grilled bell peppers and eggplant in summer, roasted butternut squash, and root veggies come fall. Mushrooms are a classic match for risotto; so is shellfish. A little grating of cheese is a nice finishing touch.

Five easy steps to risotto-style whole grains … great for any season.

A longtime editor, writer, and recipe developer, Alison Ashton is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef and the Editorial Director for NOURISH Evolution. She has worked as a features editor for a national wire service and as senior food editor for a top food magazine. Her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, and Natural Health as well as on her blog, Eat Cheap, Eat Well, Eat Up.

Pearled Barley Risotto with Peas, Pecorino & Prosciutto

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Alison Ashton — No Comments ↓

Pearled barley yields a creamy, toothsome risotto. And here’s your language lesson for the day: The Italian word for barley is orzo (not to be confused with the rice-shaped pasta of the same name), and risotto made with barley is called orzotto. Yes, we probably should call this orzotto, but most people will think of this as risotto. In any case, it’s delicious by any name. This recipe also would be tasty with pearled farro (labeled farro perlato) if you find it at gourmet markets, in which case, this would be farrotto.

1 cup pearled barley
3-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, divided
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped shallot
Sea salt, to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ounce prosciutto, chopped
1 cup shelled fresh English peas (about 1 pound in pod) OR 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus additional shaved cheese for garnish

Place barley in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water by 1-1/2 inches. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 8-12 hours.

When ready to begin cooking, place stock in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer (don’t boil). Drain barley, spread on a clean kitchen towel and blot dry.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and a pinch of salt, and cook 2 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add barley and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine and cook 3 minutes, until wine is absorbed. Add 3 cups warm stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender and creamy.

While barley cooks, heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add prosciutto and cook 5 minutes or until crispy. Remove prosciutto from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. Raise heat to medium. Add peas and remaining 1/2 cup warm stock to pan for 5 minutes or until peas are tender and stock evaporates.

Stir peas and grated cheese into barley. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with prosciutto and shaved cheese..

Serves 4

Braised Rabbit with Easy Pan Sauce

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 3 Comments ↓

By Alison Ashton

You’ll want a tender “fryer” or “young” rabbit for this recipe; fryers typically weigh less than three pounds. Ask the butcher to cut the rabbit into six serving pieces, which makes this a simple dish you can prepare on a weeknight. If you purchase a whole rabbit, Saveur has helpful instructions for cutting it up. Serve with Oven-Baked Polenta with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes and sauteed spinach.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (2 1/2- to 3-pound) fryer rabbit, cut into 6 serving pieces
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon cold butter
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle rabbit with salt and pepper. Add half of rabbit to pan and cook 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Transfer seared rabbit pieces to a plate and repeat with remaining half of rabbit.

Add onion to pan and sauté 2 minutes. Add wine; cook 1 minute or until wine evaporates, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add broth and seared rabbit. Cover, and cook for 30 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into meaty part of the thigh registers 155. Transfer rabbit to a serving dish and keep warm.

Place sauté pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes or until pan juices reduce by half. Remove from heat and whisk in butter. Pour sauce over rabbit. Garnish with basil and pine nuts.

Serves 6

No yard? No Problem … Container Gardens to the Rescue

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 4 Comments ↓

By Alison Ashton

These days, home is a second-story condo with no yard. Instead, we have a sunny, south-facing balcony and a sizable deck, which means our urban farming must be done in containers. Which is all right by me. Even when I lived in houses with yards, I was still more inclined to garden in containers because I’m horticulturally challenged and lazy. Overseeing a few containers just seemed…easier. And it is; even I’ve managed to cultivate pots of vigorous herbs and sweet cherry tomatoes.

container-melange You can grow anything, from herbs to apple trees, in containers, says C. Darren Butler, a Los Angeles-based University of California Master Gardener, arborist, and landscape designer who teaches small-space gardening workshops and other horticultural classes. “The only thing I’d caution people that they shouldn’t try in a container is corn,” he says.

Here’s all you need to get started:

Location. “You need sun–five to six hours a day,” says Butler. “That’s the number one thing.” But that sun can be on a patio, balcony, deck, or stairway. If horizontal space is limited, a sun-drenched wall is ripe for vertical gardening.

Choose a container. “I don’t think there’s any one perfect container,” says Butler. Size and water retention are the main considerations. He recommends sustainably harvested wood, UV-treated recycled plastic, or simply reusing 5-gallon plastic nursery buckets. Glazed clay pots retain water well, Butler notes, but they can be expensive and breakable. Avoid terra cotta, he cautions, which tends to wick moisture away from plants.

Evangeline Heath Rubin, who documents her horticultural adventures in the blog Farm Apartment, got her apartment garden started with a self-watering EarthBox ($59.95), in which she grows a variety of salad greens. EarthBox kits come with a container, watering system, potting mix, and casters.

The depth of the container depends on the plant’s root system. Most plants need at least 8 to 12 inches, though baby lettuces, radishes and arugula can thrive in as little as 4 to 6 inches. Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and the like need a bit more depth–14 to 20 inches. You can even grow a lemon tree in a 5-gallon pot; you’ll just need to prune the roots every few years when the plant is dormant.

Soil. Butler recommends a mix of one-third coarse builder’s sand or washed plaster sand, one-third organic matter (compost or organic potting soil for vegetables), and one-third native soil (ask a neighbor to lend you some).

You’ll want to feed container plants to replenish nutrients that are washed away every time you water, says Heath Rubin. Compost or worm castings are ideal. Her solution for small-space composting has been vermiculture–using worms to compost kitchen scraps–in a compact Wriggly Ranch worm bin. “I give them the gourmet treatment,” boasts Heath Rubin, who purees vegetable scraps for her colony of red wigglers. “I think of them as my pets.”

Plants. “Don’t be afraid to start from seed,” says Heath Rubin. Butler recommends compact container varieties, which are available for just about any kind of fruit or vegetable. Organizations like Seed Savers Exchange and companies like Seeds of Change sell seeds for everything from bush cucumbers to cherry tomatoes to baby eggplant.

Hmm, with sun, decent soil, a hospitable container, and seeds even I can turn my concrete jungle into a verdant urban farm.

Spring Soupe au Pistou

Posted on April 28, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 2 Comments ↓

Pistou is the Provencal cousin of Italian pesto (difference: the French version doesn’t include pine nuts), and it’s used as a condiment as well as in a soup that bears its name. This spring rendition of the typically summery soup adds a touch of fresh mint to the traditional basil in the pistou (just enough basil to “borrow” from your new seedlings), and substitutes leeks for onions and sugar snap peas for haricots verts in the soup itself. As spring turns to summer, adapt the recipe to use whatever produce is available. Add zucchini or other summer squash. Trade the snap peas for green beans, use fresh shell beans instead of canned, and swap canned tomatoes for peeled, seeded summer-fresh tomatoes (you’ll need 1 1/2 cups). Serve with grilled bread.

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Most Versatile Chicken Stock

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 4 Comments ↓

Chicken stock has a mellow quality that makes it particularly versatile in soups and sauces. This is a “white” stock, since it’s made with raw chicken bones. You can substitute the carcass from a roast chicken, like our Simplest Roast Chicken. This stock is purposely unsalted, since you will use it as an ingredient in other dishes–as a base for soups and sauces, for example, or to cook rice and other grains. Simmering the chicken bones extracts tons of flavor of a stock that’s a far cry from store-bought chicken broth.

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Stretch Your Food Budget: Use Everything

Posted on April 14, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 1 Comment ↓

“Profits are measured in pennies,” one of my culinary school instructors often repeated to remind us of the importance of maximizing our use of ingredients. Smart chefs–those who want to stay in business–do this all the time and now, thanks to a stagnant economy, it’s a practice budget-conscious cooks are bringing home.

stretch-your-food-budget Here are a few suggestions to help you make the most of what you already have for inexpensive, healthy meals.

Make stock. This is a prime example of stretching your investment, especially if you’re spending a bit more on organic, heritage food. You can make stock from almost anything–vegetables, bones, shrimp or lobster shells. Vegetable stock is the easiest; you can use the trimmings for anything from aromatics (onions, leeks, and the like) to tough mushroom stems (try those in our Mushroom Stock). Avoid cruciferous veggies or dark leafy greens, which impart bitter taste. To make different stocks, use our Most Versatile Chicken Stock recipe as a guideline and substitute the main ingredient. The biggest difference is how long you simmer the stock: 30-45 minutes for vegetable or fish stock, three to four hours for chicken, and six to eight hours for beef. Of course, you can use other varieties of poultry (turkey or duck, for example) or meat bones (lamb, perhaps), but these have distinctive flavors that make their stock a bit less versatile.

Think whole. Although the trimmings from fruits and vegetables are a fine addition to the compost heap or (in the case of veggies) stock, using the entire thing will add new flavors and textures to your cooking. Beets and beet greens are a good example. The sweet beets are delicious boiled, roasted or steamed, while the greens are a delightful quick-cooking alternative to spinach. Try Mama Kourtesi’s Beet and Green Salad and you’ll be sold on this concept. You can use fennel in a similar way, using the bulb, along with the pretty fronds as a garnish (save the stalk for stock).

Even animal products can be utilized this way. Poultry is one of the few items home cooks can buy whole, and it’s likely to come with giblets (heart, liver, gizzard, and neck), especially if you purchase heritage birds. Use these (except for the liver) to flavor stock, soup or gravy; the liver can go toward pate, like our Chicken Liver Pate. You can freeze the raw giblets for up to four months. Of course, you’ll want to save the carcass to make stock.

Smart leftovers. Thrifty cooks pride themselves on recycling leftovers in entirely new dishes. Day-old bread hanging around? Make it into breadcrumbs or, even better, bread pudding. Turn extra cooked rice into fried rice or rice fritters (try rice in place of quinoa in our Curry Quinoa Cakes).

Keep the fat. Home cooks tend to discard the fat rendered while cooking some dishes—like Revelationary Duck Confit. But that fat is full of flavor and worth saving (on the open market, duck fat will run you about a dollar an ounce). Use a tablespoon of duck fat in lieu of olive oil for a special spin on sautéed potatoes, or a touch of pork fat to crisp up leftover carnitas.

Those are just a few ways I’ve been making better use of ingredients lately. Now it’s your turn. What are your strategies? Share here.

Natural Products Expo West: A world of organic

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 3 Comments ↓

By Alison Ashton

Turning 30 is a big deal, whether you’re a person or an event, and it was certainly cause for celebration last month at the Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California. Its monster size–1,700-plus exhibitors and 56,000 attendees–was a reflection of how all things organic and natural have moved into mainstream. I revisited some of our faves from the Fancy Food Show and discovered new goodies you’ll want to look for too:

expo-10-roundup

Revolutionary rice

Environment and flavor come together in Lotus Foods’ new SRI–One Seed Revolution rices. The company worked with Cornell University to introduce the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Indonesia, Madagascar, and Cambodia, which allows farmers to use up to 90% less seed and half as much water than conventional rice while boosting yields up to 100%–with no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Varieties include Indonesian Volcano Rice (a nutrient-dense blend of brown and red rice), Madagascar Pink Rice (an endangered type that was preserved by one farmer), and Cambodian Mekong Flower Rice (prized for its floral fragrance). The rice is currently sold in 11-pound bulk bags ($31.79) and will be available in 15-ounce packages in the fall.

Gluten-free grows up

Expo aisles were chockablock with gluten-free everything, from cookies and crackers to pizza crust. Some still have all the appeal of a hockey puck, but many compare favorably with their traditional counterparts for texture and flavor. One winner was King Arthur Flour Company’s new line of gluten-free baking mixes for bread, cookies, brownies, cakes, muffins, and pizza crust ($6.95 each). The gluten-free chocolate cake was rich and moist with a light, tender crumb. Since gluten’s not a problem for me, I was also pleased to see King Arthur now offers unbleached cake flour ($4.50 for 2 pounds), which would work beautifully with our Chocolate Angel Food Cake.

Salty flavor, less sodium

NutraSalt Low-Sodium Salt ($3.99) hails from the Red Sea and Dead Sea. It’s 66% lower in sodium than conventional table or sea salt yet high in heart-healthy potassium, with an intensely salty taste. Since going to culinary school last year, I’ve been using a heavy hand with salt in my cooking. Now I can use this salt without sacrificing flavor.

Bag it

Now that you’ve made a habit of toting reusable grocery bags to the store, the next step is to focus on produce bags. Several companies make reusable produce bags, but I like the ones from 3B Bags ($7.50 for a three-bag set) made of a breathable mesh that’s fine enough to accommodate bulk-bin items, too. If you still use plastic trash bags and the occasional zip-top bag in the kitchen, look for Green Genius’s biodegradable bags; they’re priced competitively with national brands.

Easy Rice Pilaf

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Alison Ashton — No Comments ↓

This rice pilaf recipe is an easy side dish that uses red-and-brown Indonesian Volcano Rice, which is cultivated in mineral-rich volcanic soil and is high in magnesium, manganese and zinc. You can substitute any brown rice. We added seasonal fresh English peas for color; edamame, fresh green chickpeas or thawed frozen peas would work well, too. To cook fresh peas, blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes or until tender but not mushy, drain, and rinse in cold water.

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Label Lingo: A Guide to Eggs

Posted on April 7, 2010 by Alison Ashton — 5 Comments ↓

Buying eggs used to be so simple: Grab a carton off the shelf, open it to check for any cracked shells and go on your merry way. These days, however, you need to interpret a myriad of claims on the label before deciding which carton goes into your cart. What do they all mean? Read on . . . we’ve got answers with this guide to eggs.

egg-label-post

General Terms: There are a few terms that are found on the label of every carton:

Grade: Virtually all eggs sold in stores are graded for quality by the USDA. There are three grades: AA (firm, thick whites and high, round yolks with no defects); A (similar to AA, but whites are deemed “reasonably” firm); and B (thinner whites and wider, flatter yolks). Grade A is what’s typically found in stores.

Size: Size refers to the minimum weight per dozen eggs, as determined by the USDA, rather than the size of the individual eggs. Large (24 ounces per dozen) and extra large (27 ounces per dozen) are the most common.

Date: Most cartons include both pack and sell-by dates. The pack date (when the eggs were graded, washed and packed) appears as a three-digit code indicating the consecutive day of the year, while the sell-by date appears as an actual date. Eggs are good for three to five weeks past the sell-by date.

Color: Color is determined by the chicken’s breed, and eggs in stores are white or brown. Heritage-breed hens, like Araucana chickens, produce eggs in a rainbow of hues, from turquoise to coral. Color has little to do with flavor, which is determined by the hen’s diet.

Dietary Claims: When it comes to labels, sorting out a hen’s diet is almost as complex as defining our own:

Natural: “Natural,” according to the USDA, only means that a product may not contain any artificial ingredients or added coloring–essentially meaningless when it comes to eggs.

Organic: Eggs certified organic by the USDA means the hens’ feed is organic; in other words, free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and animal byproducts, as well as chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. Organically raised hens also are antibiotic-free.

Hormone Free: You’ll often see eggs labeled hormone-free, but since the USDA prohibits the use of hormones in all poultry products, this applies to all eggs.

Antibiotic-Free: You’ll also find eggs labeled antibiotic-free. The USDA prohibits the use of prophylactic antibiotics in poultry, but some producers still treat sick hens. However, hens generally don’t produce eggs when sick.

Vegetarian: It seems odd that some eggs are labeled vegetarian, since it would seem all chickens are vegetarian. But conventional feed may include animal byproducts to boost the protein level in eggs, whereas vegetarian hens are fed food with no animal by-products. This label also helps strict vegetarians avoid omega-3-fortified eggs from chickens fed fish oil or marine algae.

Omega-3: Hens’ feed may include flaxseed, marine algae, or fish oil to enhance the omega-3 fatty acids in their eggs. Similarly, some producers add marigold extract to the feed to boost the lutein (good for eye health) in the yolks.

Pastured: Pastured is an emerging, unregulated term that producers are adopting to indicate their chickens have unfettered access to the outdoors, where they forage in the grass and supplement their diet with nutritious grubs, worms, and other goodies.

Treatment: There are also a handful of labels that speak to how a hen—and her eggs—were treated both before laying and after:

Cage-free: Cage-free means hens live indoors–in a henhouse–but are not caged. They may or may not have access to the outdoors, and still may live in overcrowded conditions.

Free Range: While the USDA defines “free range” for some poultry products, it’s a loose term that merely means the chickens have unspecified access to the outdoors. Another popular, undefined term: free-roaming.

Trimming: Chickens raised in crowded conditions will peck at each other; so many producers trim their beaks to prevent injury. Producers who don’t engage in this practice will tout “no beak trimming” on the label.

Humane: Humane Farm Animal Care’s Certified Humane program ensures hens have ample space to nest and perch. However, hens may be kept indoors and beak-trimming is allowed. The Animal Welfare Institute’s Animal Welfare Approved program is more generous with space and movement and prohibits beak-trimming.

Fertile: Fertile means there’s a rooster living amongst the hens, which some people prefer as more a more natural option. Some believe fertile eggs are more nutritious, which is not the case.

Pasteurized: Pasteurized eggs have been treated with heat to kill salmonella bacteria and are a good option for using raw eggs in uncooked applications like a salad dressing or if you’re fond of eating raw cookie dough.

By far our favorite choice for eggs though, and the least confusing of them all, is to find eggs from a local farmer (or, in Lia’s case, your own chicken coop). The taste and richness are unsurpassed.

A longtime editor, writer, and recipe developer, Alison Ashton is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. She has worked as a features editor for a national wire service and as senior food editor for a top food magazine. Her work has appeared in Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, and Natural Health as well as on her blog, Eat Cheap, Eat Well, Eat Up.