Tag: taste

Baked Mushroom Risotto – Why Stir When You Can Stare at an Oven?

It’s not often that I post a video for an alternative method on a classic recipe before I’ve actually shown the real deal, but
that’s what we have with this incredible baked mushroom risotto.

I was playing around with a baked paella recipe, and began
wondering what would happen if I used a similar method for doing risotto. As
you’ll see, the beginning and the end of the recipe are pretty standard, but
we’ve taken the middle 15 minutes and moved it into the oven, in an attempt to
eliminate those dreaded “variables.”

The size, shape, and thickness of your pan, how fast you add
the liquid, and how high your heat is are factors that can wildly affect the
outcome when done on the stovetop. By using the oven for the majority of the
cooking, we don’t have as many things to worry about.

Of course, you still need to finish this thing off yourself,
and taste and test for doneness and seasoning, but that goes for any recipe. The
goal is to have the rice come out of the oven between 80-90% cooked, so that
all it takes is a final addition of liquid, and a few minutes of stirring to
recreate that signature “sauce” that makes this dish so famous.

I used a variety of risotto rice called “Carnaroli,” which is
known as “the king of rices.” Thanks to a higher starch content and
slightly longer grain, Carnaroli produces a beautifully creamy sauce, while
still maintaining a firm, toothsome texture. You should be able to find it
fairly easily at those fancy grocery stores, but if not, it’s readily available
online.

If you end up using Arborio rice, the most popular variety
sold for risotto, I’d suggest checking this after 10 minutes in the oven, as I
suspect it will cook slightly quicker than the Carnaroli. Besides, you can
always cook it an extra few minutes at the end. As many of us have learned the
hard way, you can’t un-cook something.

Besides being easier and more repeatable, this method
produced a risotto that was identical in looks, taste, and texture to anything
I can do on the stove. Having said that, I enjoy standing at the stove making
risotto the traditional way, as it’s one of the best meditations ever, so it
will be interesting to see which method I use the next time I’m craving the
dish.

Anyway, whether you’ve always been afraid to try risotto, or
you’ve mastered it and are just curious, I hope you give this a try soon.
Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

3 tbsp butter

3 cups diced mushrooms

1/2 yellow onion, diced

salt and pepper to taste

cayenne to taste

1 cup Carnaroli or Arborio rice

2 1/2 cups chicken broth, plus more if desired

1/2 cup cream, plus a few tablespoons to finish

1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (don’t use that
fake crap)

2 tbsp sliced chives

Incoming search terms:

mushroom risotto recipe gordon ramsay

Garlic Shrimp in Coconut Milk, Tomatoes and Cilantro

A quick shrimp stew cooked in a tomato coconut broth with a hint of lime and cilantro. Simple enough to make for a weekday dinner yet sophisticated enough to serve to company. Serve this over brown basmati rice to soak up the broth.

I’ve been busy working on my cookbook, so I thought it would be a good idea to highlight this recipe from the archives. This is one of my favorite shrimp dishes, and perfect if you’re observing Lent.

Garlic Shrimp in Coconut Milk, Tomatoes and Cilantro
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com

Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1/4 • Old Points: 6 • Weight Watchers Points+: 6

Calories: 272.5 • Fat: 10 • Carbs: 14 • Fiber: 3 • Sugar: 4 • Protein: 31

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (weight after peeled)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
1/2 cup cilantro
4 cloves garlic, minced
kosher salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
14 oz can light coconut milk (50% less fat)*
1/2 lime, squeezed

Directions:

In a medium pot, heat oil on low. Add red peppers and sauté until soft (about 4 minutes). Add scallion whites, 1/4 cup cilantro, red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, coconut milk and salt to taste, cover and simmer on low about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend together and to thicken the sauce.

Add shrimp and cook 5 minutes. Add lime juice.

To serve, divide equally among 4 bowls and top with scallions and cilantro.

Adapted from Fine Cooking^[1]

References

^{^} Fine Cooking (www.finecooking.com)

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Slow Cooker Red Curry Beef Pot Roast – Teaching Old Meat New Tricks

When shopping, I like to take a quick peek at the end of the
meat case where they sometimes have marked-down cuts that are past their prime.
I usually stay away from the smaller, thinner pieces, as they tend to go bad
faster, but once in a while I’ll find a big roast, like the one that inspired
this delicious red beef curry; and as the old saying goes, the only thing
better than a 3-pound chuck roast, is a half-priced, 3-pound chuck roast.

By the way, this “Reduced for Quick Sale” meat is generally
fine taste and texture-wise, but the surface of the meat has oxidized, so it
doesn’t look very appetizing. Other than that, it’s perfectly fine to use,
especially in a slow-braised recipe like this.

I cooked mine on low, for about 7 or 8 hours, until it was
fork tender, but if you’re in a hurry, you can do it on a higher setting.
Conventional wisdom is that the longer slower method is superior, but in all
honesty, I don’t think there‘s a huge difference, so suit yourself. No matter
what setting you use, simply do not stop until the meat is tender.

Some of the most frustrating emails I get, are the ones that
say, “I followed your braised-whatever recipe exactly, but the meat came out
hard.” Actually, no you didn’t. Every time I give an approximate cooking time
for something like this, I’ll always say, “or until fork tender.” So why would
anyone stop cooking it while the meat is still hard? I find it as mystifying as
I do annoying.

Anyway, assuming you don’t stop, won’t stop, until the meat
is succulent, you are in for a real treat. Feel free to add any vegetables you
like, and if you want, you can cook them separately and just add to the
finished dish. I generally don’t serve this over rice if I use potatoes, but
that’s just my personal hang up, so don’t feel like you need to deny yourself that
particular pleasure. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 giant or 6 regular portions:

2 1/2 or 3 pound beef chuck roast

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 chopped onion

1 or 2 tsp red curry paste, or to taste

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 cups chicken broth

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
1 can (10-oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies (or any diced tomato product)

3 tbsp Asian fish sauce, or to taste

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp tomato paste

4 cloves minced garlic

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced

juice of one lime
2 bay leaves

1 1/2 pound small potatoes, halved

4 or 5 baby bok choy, sliced

1 rounded teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon
cold water

To garnish:

chopped roasted peanuts

chopped fresh cilantro leaves