Tag Archives: Rice

Lemon, Spinach and Ricotta Risotto

23 Jul

Multicultural Influence of…

Italy



So, this gluten free thing actually really isn’t as hard as I thought it’d be. I must admit, after watching my sister stick to a gluten free diet for the past few years and listening to her complain about how crap the bread and pasta and other gluten free food is, I was more than a little concerned. But once I realised I could still eat rice, I was a lot more relieved. Take proper, good old fashioned pasta away from an Italian girl, and you have a problem. Take risotto too, and it’s just a disaster.

I’ve been eating a bit of rice pasta, which is actually no where near as horrible as I was led to believe – as long as you don’t over cook it, it’s actually quite nice! As for the risotto, I’m glad to report nothing’s changed there, I can still cook that as normal! But I felt like being a bit adventurous after stumbling upon a post from Honest Cooking – a lemon risotto with mint and ricotta. I decided to try it without the mint, and with a bit of spinach, and a side of roast veggies. Here’s how we went…

Some diced mushrooms, eggplants and zucchinis on an oven tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkled with some basil and salt, into a moderate oven until they start to brown (about 20 minutes).

For the risotto itself, I used:

  • 1 cup of arborio rice
  • 50g butter
  • half a diced onion
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • juice from 1 large lemon
  • 3 handfuls of baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped

First, melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat

Add in the onions and cook until they begin to become see through.

Add the rice in and stir to coat with the butter and onion mixture.

Add the wine to the pan, stirring for a few minutes until the liquid begins to become absorbed, then add in a cup of the chicken stock. Add more stock as needed, stirring gently and occasionally until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked through.

Once the rice is cooked through, add in the spinach and stir until wilted.

Take the pot off the heat and stir in the cheeses, stirring to combine.

Next, add in the lemon juice and stir to combine, and season with some salt and pepper.

Out of the oven with the veggies, and onto the plate with it all!

Perfectly creamy, thanks to the ricotta, with a little bit, thanks to the lemon. I really loved the texture the spinach provided, and think next time for yet another texture I’ll add in some toasted pine nuts.

It was a perfectly warm and comforting winter meal – and best of all, gluten free, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything! Delicious :)

Quick and Healthy: Moroccan Style Stuffed Capsicums

22 Jul

Multicultural Influence of…

Morocco

 


Another trip to the Queen Vic Market, another few hours of inspiration to cook. There is nothing better than being surrounded by beautiful, fresh, vibrant produce, and I honestly believe there’s no where better than the market for that. While walking through the sheds of fresh fruit, veggies, meats, breads, herbs, and everything in between, an idea springs to my mind. A big, fat, roasted red capsicum… Filled with…. stuff. Not sure what yet, I’m assuming it’ll come to me as I continue my market walk. And sure enough, it does. A Moroccan inspired stuffing. Hmmm… With all of my ingredients fresh from the market, let’s see what I can concoct…

First things first, oven on 180°C, and slice the tops off the capsicums.

Into the oven they go, on a baking paper lined tray, until they start to blister, turning them every 10 minutes of so.

Meanwhile, heat a bit of olive oil in a large saucepan, and throw in some diced onion (about half a large onion) and two cloves of minced garlic, until the onion starts to soften and brown slightly.

Next, in goes around 500g of gluten free sausage mince. Looooove it!

On top of the mince, a bit of Moroccan spice mix and sweet paprika, and cook it up until it’s brown and cooked through…

… like this!

Next in goes half a grated zucchini, and about half a cup of saffron rice (I like to put a bit of water, a bit of white wine and a pinch of saffron threads in a saucepan, and throw in some paella rice, bringing it to a boil and then simmering until it’s cooked through).

After combining that, I throw in a handful of toasted slivered almonds and pine nuts, to add a nice crunchy texture and a delicious flavour.

And here’s the finished product, ready to go inside the roasted capsicums! Easy!

Out of the oven with the capsicums – they’re not over roasted, as I need them to still stand up in the bowl; if they’re too soft, they’ll just collapse.

Spoon in the stuffing and top with a bit of crumbled feta cheese!

And that’s it! Quick, simple, yummy, and looks awfully pretty! And the bonus is, you can eat the bowl as you work your way through the stuffing! I think this would also work great with eggplant, or even a large tomato to hold it all in.

It may look like a bit of work and not so “quick,” but it actually is – you just throw everything into the fry pan while the capsicums roast, and you can cook up a whole lot of rice and leave it in the fridge for a few days, taking out what you need as you need it! And as long as you don’t use a heap of oil and very lean mince, it actually isn’t terribly unhealthy, particularly because you don’t need a heap of stuffing in the capsicum.

Over to you guys; where do you find inspiration to create something a little different in the kitchen?


Kagu Ra Zaka

20 Jul

Multicultural Cuisine of…

Japan


Kagu Ra Zaka
266 Toorak Rd,
South Yarra
(03) 9827 2608
Visit Website

I’ve recently taken quite a liking to Japanese food. I’m not talking about the commercial, stock-standard, mass-produced shopping centre sushi. I mean real Japanese food. Sous-Jeff had a not-so-great Japanese experience at a Teppanyaki restaurant with a group of his work colleagues – being the big, manly man that he is, he was bitterly disappointed to get tiny portions throughout the night, leaving him still hungry and arriving home with a McChicken burger. So, naturally he was a little hesitant when I suggested going out for a Japanese lunch. I reminded him that he actually really enjoyed our lunch at Wabi Sabi (which I’ve also taken my mum and sisters to), and that if he ordered the right things he would get a substantial feed. “OK then,” he replies, “but I’m trusting you to order for me!” No pressure.

To my great delight, we arrive on a blisteringly cold Melbourne winter’s day, to find an authentic, little, warm, Japanese sanctuary. With proper, authentic Japanese “booths” to eat in! Win! Nothing better than getting to kick of your shoes and relax over lunch!

Being the little nerd I am, I’ve already sussed out the website before our lunch date, and find out that the restaurant’s head chef, Mr Jack Itou, has shown off his culinary skills on the Japanese TV network, with IronChef Ken Kenichi! Very cool!

We take off our shoes and crawl up into our seats. Our table is set with beautiful blue and white patterned plates and our chopsticks (which I’m still slowly learning to operate in a more graceful manner than simply stabbing my food).

Sous-Jeff takes a look at the menu, written partly in Japanese, flicks through a few pages (not entirely sure what he’s looking at), and asks, “so, what are we having?!” Another win for me – I get to choose our lunch menu! “Let’s get some edamame beans to start,” I say, having fallen in love with them a few years ago at another Teppanyaki restaurant. He nods along… “what???” That was my question too, when I first ate them – they’re green soy beans, salt boiled in their pods and squeezed out to eat.

Edamame, $6.00

To me, they have a sweetish flavour, and taste absolutely amazing when combined with the vinegar-spiked soy sauce.

After a bit of practice, I even got the hang of using my chopsticks to eat them!

Next on my list were the gyoza (pork mince and vegetable dumplings), and they were spectacular!

Gyoza (5 pieces), $7.00

Soft shelled, without being mushy, and a beautiful flavour – strong, but not overpowering. Absolutely loved them!

And my final appetiser choice were the spring rolls. Being the personal trainer/sport teacher, healthy duo that we are, Sous-Jeff and I cannot go past anything deep fried.

HaruMaki (2 pieces), $4.50

Not much to say about these – they lasted all of 4 seconds and were perfect. They made the most incredible sound when we bit into them, and tasted great with the left over vinegar and soy sauce mix we got with the edamame.

Time for a main – we decide to share, as we have a dinner that night as well, so we don’t want to go in pre-filled! We decide on something we’ll both love – the chicken teriyaki, served with veggies and a homemade teriyaki sauce.

Teriyaki (chicken), $17.00

Well, I’ll be the first to admit, the veggies weren’t amazing… they were just a standard salad/cabbage/cucumber/tomato mix. But the chicken…

Dotted with sesame seeds and drenched in the sticky, sweet teriyaki sauce, the chicken was tender and soft and cooked to perfection. We were suddenly regretting our agreement to share. Luckily we had some steamed white rice to soak up all the sauce – there was a fight for that too.

Steamed rice, $2.00 per serve

Bellies full and tummies content, we prepare to tackle our next challenge – getting out of our little both with our dignity intact. 5 minutes and a few giggles from our lovely waitress later, we were out, shoes on, and ready to leave. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, the food was really great (I’d rate it on a par with Wabi Sabi, which I continue going back to!), and I can’t wait to go again!

Over to you – any favourite restaurants that have encouraged you to go and try that same cuisine elsewhere?!

Would rate it 8 out of 10.

 

Kagu Ra Zaka on Urbanspoon

P.S. It’s just occurred to me that I really haven’t given any bad restaurant reviews since starting my blog… how is this possible that I haven’t stumbled onto anything terrible yet?! It isn’t intentional, I swear I’ll tell you when I hate something! And I didn’t think I was that easily pleased…. might have to be more critical from now on!

 

Maroush

27 Jun

Multicultural Cuisine of…

Lebanon

Maroush
1092 Main Rd,
Eltham
(03) 9439 5665
Visit Website

With the plethora of delicious and diverse cuisines available it the Melbourne CBD and surrounds, it’s so easy to forget about your own backyard. Which is exactly what Sous-Jeff and I have done. There’s this restaurant that we drive past a dozen times a week, which we’ve been invited to for dinner before but didn’t make it, that we’re um-ed and ahh-ed over for years – you know that restaurant? We all have one. Maroush was ours. Until Saturday night – we decided to finally give it a shot. We decided to book a table, just in case, even though we didn’t think it’d be all that busy, because it was just a local little restaurant. Wrong. It was darn lucky we did book, because it was packed! The car park was full when we arrived at 7pm, with the 50m either side of the restaurant lined with parked cars too. Awesome, we think, it must be good it it’s this busy!

We ascend the tiled steps and make our way through the big, wrought iron gates, and past a big, terracotta coin fountain. We make our way through the front door and almost walk into the front counter/kitchen area. The restaurant is divided into two seemingly identical sections, one to the right of the kitchen, the other to the left. We are led around to the right hand side, and seated on a table below some beautiful, huge, golden engraved discs.

Directly opposite us is a large mirror, framed with Lebanese knick knacks and a painted mural on the wall behind my seat.

But enough of the view, time for the food! Neither Sous-Jeff or I had eaten Lebanese before, and were a little scared of what the food might be like… we really, honestly had no idea what to expect! So, what better way to try it than to go with the banquet?! The lovely waitress we had was fantastic – she knew the menu like the back of her hand and explained every dish (all 14 of them!) succinctly and simply.

First out for our entrees was a trio of dips with warm pita bread and also fried pita bread.

We had Hommos, which was nutty, meaty, grainy and earthy – it tasted like real chickpeas, and was absolutely perfect!

Hommos

Baba Ghannouj, which was perfectly silky smooth, and had the most beautiful smokey flavour which was perfectly married with the eggplant.

Baba Ghannouj

Lastly in our trio was the tabouli – lemony and zesty, perfect to refresh our mouths in between what was to come!

Tabouli

Next out were the falafels, a spicy mix of beans, vegetables and herbs, made in meatball form (which were just a little too spicy for me!) with a beautifully smooth tahini sauce which had a great lemon flavour. Unfortunately, there was one grumpy waiter in the whole place, and he happened to be the one who brought out this dish to us, plonked silently and unceremoniously on the table, and off he stomped to the next customers. Sous-Jeff loved the falafels, being the spice fiend he is, and was surprised that a vegetarian, gluten free dish was so delicious!

Falafel with tahini sauce

Meat Cigars

Along with the meat cigars came with Sambousik – fetta cheese with onion and mixed herbs, wrapped in filo pastry again. This was one of my favourites, I loved the creaminess of the fetta, which wasn’t overly salty, contrasted with the perfectly crisp pastry.

Sambousik

Then, out comes the Makanek, which are grilled lamb sausages with lemon juice and sumac, which were very tender and tasty.

Makanek

And they were followed by the Ors Kafta – grilled lamb patties with onion and fresh parsley. They were perfectly cooked and tasted beautiful with fresh lemon squeezed over them.

Ors Kafta

With our entrees done (yes, all of that was just the entrees!), the waitress clears out table and tells us she’ll give us a few minutes to digest before bringing out our mains. We nod appreciatively. 10 minutes or so later, out come the mains. It’s a smaller version of the standard sized main (thankfully!), and we get a beautiful platter of Shish Tawook and Shish Kabab on different rices, and a little side of salad with a garlic and lemon dressing.

Right: Chicken Shish Tawook on almond rice. Left: Lamb Shish Kabab on saffron rice
Side salad

We tried the Shish Kabab first, which was the marinated lamb on skewers, served on a saffron rice. I must admit, I’m not really a lamb eater (hence why we went for the lamb first) and was quite apprehensive at the sight of the menu with all of the lamb… but it was all cooked magnificently and I probably would eat lamb more often if it was always done so well! It was very soft and tender, and the saffron rice was beautifully flavoured – they went together so well that I left my last few bites of rice and lamb to eat after the chicken (I like to finish on a high note!).

Shish Kabab on saffron rice

We tried the chicken next, the Shish Tawook (marinated in garlic and lemon juice), and it was also very soft and tender, but, and I can’t believe I’m typing this, but I actually enjoyed the lamb more! I wasn’t a fan of the almond rice as it was laced with cinnamon (and I’m just not a fan of cinnamon), but Sous-Jeff quite enjoyed it.

Shish Tawook on almond rice
With our mains finished and bellies full, our plates were once again cleared and we were given another 10 minute reprieve, before dessert was served. We were given a small platter of Turkish Delight, Baklava and Mahalabia. Neither Sous-Jeff nor I are particularly fond of Turkish Delight, but in the name of trying anything once, we give it a crack. It’s ok, but not really our cup of tea, so hard to say how good it was, sorry!
Turkish Delight

The Mahalabia was a traditional Lebanese custard, topped with honey syrup, pistachios and blossom water. The first flavour to hit my taste buds was the lavendar flavour of the blossom water, which was incredibly sweet. The custard itself was beautiful, and reminded me a little of panna cotta. Sous-Jeff absolutely loved this, and actually ate half of mine. I traded him for his bit of baklava.

Mahalabi

I’ve saved the best (in my opinion, anyway!) until last. I’ve never had Lebanese Baklava before, and was a little worried that they may have snuck some cinnamon in it, which would have rendered it uneatable for me… but alas, my dessert prayers were answered, and it was absolutely perfection. Layers of crispy, golden filo pastry with assorted crushed nuts and the most beautifully sweet honey syrup. The flavours were perfectly balanced and it was absolutely magnificent. I begged Sous-Jeff to let me buy a $5.00 take away/take home pack, but to no avail. Will definitely be going back for some more soon though!

Baklava

With dessert eaten, we shuffled out of our seats, barely able to move we were so full. That enormous banquet came to a total cost of $42.00 each, which we felt was absolutely fantastic value for money. The food was all beautifully prepared and very delicious. We were very pleasantly surprised after initially going in quite hesitant, and we certainly plan on dining there again. Unfortunately, we were met with the grumpy waiter on our way out, but other than that, the staff were friendly and well organised and efficient, considering how busy they were.

 

Would rate it 8 out of 10.

How many of you have gone into a dining experience full of hesitation, only to be very pleasantly surprised?


Maroush Restaurant (Lebanese) on Urbanspoon

Chicken and Choriza Paella

10 Jun

Multicultural Cuisine of…

Spain


So far on my multicultural adventure of Melbourne, I’ve tried a few cuisines – Thai, French, Japanese, Modern Australian… but at the moment, I’m a big fan on all things Spanish! I love the rich flavours and subtle spices (I’m really not keen on the super spicey business that Sous-Jeff involves himself in!) of the food, and am really starting to enjoy cooking it myself.

After the Friday Night Tapas venture a few weeks ago, I’ve been pretty keen to try my hand at some more Spanish cuisine. So, just before I shut off my computer and end my work day, I quickly jump online and find this chicken and chorizo paella recipe from taste.com – and even better, it’s got no seafood in it! Sous-Jeff and I don’t particularly love seafood, although we are making more of an effort to try it, in the name of being food-venturous and giving me something to blog about! Five minutes and a recipe print out later, I’m heading home to get my Spanish on! Here’s how it went…

To make this dish for 4 people (or for 2 and enough for left overs tomorrow!), you’ll need:

  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 pinch saffron threads
  • 2 chorizo sausages
  • 4 chicken thigh fillets (600g), sliced into 2cm pieces (although the recipe calls for chicken thigh, I prefer to use breast fillets)
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped (I only had brown onions, but they worked just as well!)
  • 1 red capsicum, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 cup arborio or calrose rice
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
  • parsley to serve

First, combine the chicken stock, wine and saffron in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat and set aside.

Heat a large fry pan or paella pan with a little oil, and add the chorizo. Cook it up, turning occasionally, until golden, and transfer to a plate.

Then, add the chicken into the pan, again turning occasionally until cooked through. Transfer to the same place with the chorizo.

Add the onion and capsicum to the pan, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes/until onion softens.

Next in goes the tomato and paprika, stirring for a minute or until aromatic.

Return the chicken and chorizo to the pan, and stir them in to combine. Then sprinkle over the rice, and pour the chicken stock mixture over it and bring to the boil.

Bring the mixture to the boil and reduce the heat to low. Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.

Scatter the peas over the rice, and cook for another few minutes.

Last thing to do is sprinkle the parsley over the top and serve it up! It was a super simple recipe, and it came out perfectly. The saffron and paprika weren’t too strong, and the chicken came out very tenderly from simmering in the stock for so long. Give it a try, it’s really yummy!!


So, what cuisines have you fallen in love with and decided to try at home?!


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