Sasha's Kitchen: Saffron Risotto Balls with Tomato Chutney

Risotto balls are one of my husband's favorite treats, and this was no exception. This recipe is loosely based on a recipe I found in a cookbook, which called for coloring the balls with yellow food coloring. I figured it was much better to use saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, which creates a wonderful flavor for the rice, as well as a lovely yellow color. I served the riceballs with some spicy tomato chutney (leftovers from serving with chicken for the night before) and the combination was so perfect, that I am sharing the recipe for the chutney as well. However, just about any chutney would be perfect with these.

Sasha's Saffron Risotto Balls (makes about 18)

1/2 lb arborio rice

1/6 cup cream

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup freshly grated hard mild goat cheese

1 T sugar

pinch of saffron threads

1/4 cup bread crumbs

canola oil

Cook the risotto according to the package instructions, along with the pinch of saffron threads. Then combine the cooked risotto rice with the egg, cream, grated cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Divide the mixture into one inch balls. Place the breadcrumbs on a plate. I used the bread crumbs that ShopRite sent me and they worked perfectly for these delicious treats. Next, heat 4 T of canola oil in a skillet and cook, turning occasionally until completely (and evenly) browned on all sides. Drain the excess oil on paper towels.

Below is the chutney recipe, loosely based on the cookbook, with several modifications (including about half the amount of sugar as recommended).

Bengali Style Tomato Chutney (loosely based on the recipe in the cookbook At Home with Madhur Jaffrey, a terrific Indian/regional cookbook)
2 T olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp fennel
2 cups canned tomato puree
1 small can cherry tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
3 T raisons

Combine the oil with the cumin, fennel, tomato puree, cherry tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, pepper flakes and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook on low, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add the raisons and cook for another ten. The chutney should be thick and have a glazed appearance when done.  I found multiple uses for this chutney, both on chicken and with the saffron rice balls. Yum!

Sasha's Kitchen: Saffron Risotto Balls with Tomato Chutney

Sasha's Kitchen: Lobster Paella

Eric made a delicious looking Spanish paella which he shared in a recent guest post, which inspired me to create my own version of this dish. I must confess that I don't have the guts to prepare live lobster, so I used a fresh lobster tail from Fresh Direct instead. My favorite aspect of this paella dish was the incorporation of the lobster, as well as the saffron, which is my absolute favorite luxury spice. I always keep saffron on hand in small pouches (you only need a little, which is good because it is quite expensive) - the flavor is exquisite and it is absolutely essential in making the sofrito portion of this dish. This time, I used saffron that my mom brought back from her trip to Spain in June. The following recipe was created by me, after analyzing several recipes from the Food Network.  I used a spicy chicken sausage in lieu of chorizo, since I don't eat pork, but feel free to use chorizo instead if you prefer. This recipe makes a large amount of food (probably 6 servings), and I don't suggest cutting it in half since it requires so many different ingredients.

Sasha's Lobster Paella
3/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken cutlets
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 chorizo sausages, or spicy chicken sausage variants
1/2 of a large spanish onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
handfull of fresh parsley, chopped
1 15 oz can whole tomatoes, cut up
3 cups arborio rice (or Spanish rice)
5-6 cups of low sodium chicken stock (I used organic store bought stock, but you could also make your own if you have time)
generous pinch of saffron threads
1/2 lb of shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 8 oz lobster tail
lemon for seasoning
1 T paprika
1 T dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

First, combine the paprika, oregano and some salt and pepper to taste and rub the chicken on all sides with this spice mix. Cook the chicken in a pan in olive oil and set aside. Using the same pan (you can add more olive oil if you need to), cook the chorizo or chicken sausage and then set aside.

Next, make the sofrito in a deep pan. Saute the spanish onion, garlic and parsley for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Then add the tomatoes and cook for another minute or two.  Add the arborio rice at this point, and mix well to coat the rice. Add the saffron threads and about 4 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the stock reduces and the rice cooks, absorbing the liquid. Next, add the chicken (cut up into small pieces first), the shrimp and the chorizo. Stir, as the ingredients will mix and the shrimp will cook. You will likely need to add another cup or so of chicken stock to keep the rice from sticking. Continue cooking until the rice has the right consistency (don't overcook or it will become sticky) and the shrimp are fully cooked. Next, add the meat from the lobster tail and allow that to cook for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and garnish with parsley and a bit of lemon.

Sasha's Kitchen: Lobster Paella

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Seafood Paella

Jenn and I went to Spain last summer and had amazing seafood Paella at a few different places and I've been dying to attempt to make it myself ever since we returned. Luckily my Mom let me borrow her giant Le Creuset pot and some real Saffron, 'the world's most expensive spice by weight'. You can actually see a strand of it in my picture above right on a piece of chicken in the lower left hand corner. It's red and stringy.

Anyway, I made way more food than Jenn and I could eat in a night so we'll be having Paella quite a lot this week but I can think of worse tragedies to befall on us. It also came out exactly how I was hoping. I used the Paella recipe in the Joy of Cooking as a reference but didn't agree with a lot of their decisions.

Ingredients (serves 8 supposedly):
1 lb. bag of mussells (scrubbed and de-bearded)
1 lb. of shrimp, de-shelled and de-veined
2 chicken breasts
5 oz. of chopped chorizo sausage
5 oz. chopped baby bella mushrooms
1 vidalia onion minced
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1.5 red peppers, chopped
2 cups of arborio rice
4 cups of hot broth (mine was from cooking the mussels plus some chicken bouillon)
1 cup white wine
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. Better than Bouillon chicken base
Konriko's Creole Seasoning
Pinch of dried Saffron

So the Joy of Cooking recommended cooking the chicken ahead of time and adding mussels and shrimp at the very end right before serving. I decided this seemed like a terrible idea as I wanted to cook the rice in the broth from the mussels to begin with. So the first thing I did was to steam the mussels in 3 cups of water and 1 cup of white wine with a couple of tablespoons of minced garlic and some chopped cilantro. I had Jenn do a coarse chop of the veggies in the food processor (we just got one) and then I cooked the chicken breasts with half the veggies in some olive oil and seasoned them with some Konriko's Creole Seasoning. I made sure the chicken wasn't overcooked as you're supposed to bake the whole shebang in the oven for 15 minutes at the end at 350 degrees (I also pre-heated the oven). Once the chicken was almost done I took it out and Jenn sliced it and I set it aside.

Then I took the other half of the veggies and cooked them with the shrimp and some more creole seasoning. For whatever reason I put Cajun spices on everything. I took out the shrimp and the mussels when they had opened and set those aside separately since I didn't want to over cook them and decided I'd add them at the very end and let the rice heat them when serving. I also set aside the wonderful broth from the mussels and added a tsp. of chicken bouillon.

So then I put all the cooked veggies and the sliced, mostly cooked chicken in the pan and slowly added the rice and broth, stirring often. I made it as if I was making risotto as it's the same type of rice. You want to coat the rice with a little fat (olive oil in this case) and then slowly let it soak up the broth. Although knowing that it was going to cook more in the oven I just got it started, stirred and then stuck it all in the oven saving the mussels and shrimp for the end.

When it came out all the rice was at the bottom so I had to stir it again but it was perfect. If you want to adjust the recipe it's just 1 part rice to 2 parts broth. If you make this I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I think it's one of the best things I've ever made.

Eric's Kitchen in NJ: Seafood Paella

Sasha & Brad's Kitchen: Mushroom Saffron Risotto

Risotto is one of my husband's favorite dishes.  We make a number of different risottos, usually with me designing the recipe and Brad executing the recipe on the stove.  I decided to combine saffron and cremeni mushrooms to make a new risotto.  I love the flavor of saffron in just about anything. I used to be lucky enough to have saffron powder (which is fantastic, by the way if you can get your hands on it) that my mom brought back from Thailand.  With that all gone, I realized that it's a bit hard to come by, so I had to go with the more traditional saffron threads to achieve the saffron flavor.  The flavor is a bit milder with the threads than it was with the powder.

We used chicken stock in preparing this recipe, as I usually do with my risottos.  However, if you want to go vegetarian, you can prepare it with a homemade mushroom stock.  This would likely be fantastic, and is something that I have been meaning to try out, but we never seem to have the time on weekdays, which is usually when we make risotto.

Sasha & Brad's Saffron Mushroom Risotto
2 cups organic low sodium chicken stock (or homemade mushroom stock)
1 onion, diced
2 T of butter
1 cup arborio rice
2 T canola oil
About 12-16 oz of cremeni mushrooms (sliced, with the stems removed)
pinch of saffron threads
1/2 cup of white cooking wine
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

To prepare the risotto, saute the chopped onions in 2 tablespoons of Canola Oil and two tablespoons of butter.  Next, add a cup of the arborio rice and stir for a couple of minutes.  Next, add the chicken stock, one cup at a time to the rice, along with the white cooking wine. Make sure to add the stock in one cup increments as the stock reduces, stirring every couple of minutes while the risotto cooks, allowing the stock to reduce, gradually.

In the meantime, saute the mushrooms in canola oil in a separate pan. Midway through the third cup of chicken stock reducing, add the mushrooms and the saffron to the stock and rice. Continue reducing until the third cup of stock has fully reduced and the risotto has the proper consistency (tacky, not runny).  You can add the grated parmesan cheese as the final step and serve hot.  This dish was a real mid-week treat!

Sasha & Brad's Kitchen: Mushroom Saffron Risotto

Sasha's Kitchen: Crab Couscous with Green Apple, Mango, Saffron and Lemon

Crab is one of the featured ingredients of the month for February here on A Kitchen In Brooklyn.  For the first crab recipe, I decided to use some fresh lump crabmeat from my local fish market (unfortunately, I was not able to obtain king crab) and decided to prepare a couscous dish.  The crab was not intended to be the star of this dish, but to be featured as one of several complementary flavors.  There are several foods that I think make spectacular food combinations with crab.  These include green apple, tamarind, lemon, avocado, beets, sugar snap peas, snow peas, mango and eggs (not all in the same dish, of course).  I look forward to experimenting with different ways of presenting crab this month.

For my couscous, I decided to complement the crab with some tang/tartness, so I selected green apple, lemon and mango, and also threw in the sugar snap peas.  I added the saffron because the couscous needed a bit of a pick me up, plus it made for a beautiful pale yellow color.  Saffron is very powerful, so you only need a little bit or else it will overpower the other flavors.  The balance of this dish is nice.  Don't forget the lemon at the end, as it adds an important complement and acidity necessary to balance the dish.  This might be one of my best recipes yet, and I'm sharing.

Sasha's Crab Couscous With Green Apple, Mango and Saffron (serves 4)

1 1/2 cups of couscous

1 cup of sugar snap peas (or snow peas, if you prefer)

olive oil (added as described below)

2 diced cloves of garlic

2 T mascarpone cheese

1 diced shallot

1 medium sized mango, diced

2 green apples, peeled and diced

1 lemon, cut into slices

1/8 tsp saffron

salt and pepper to taste

To prepare this dish, I boiled a quart of water and cooked the sugar snap peas until softened (I guess they no longer will "snap").  Then I removed the sugar snap peas and added the couscous to the water.  I cooked the couscous, as per typical instructions, until al dente, about seven minutes.  Then I drained the couscous from the remaining water and mixed with 2T of olive oil.

Next comes the fun part, deciding how to jazz up ordinary couscous to create a new recipe.  I sauteed the shallot and the garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil.  Then I cooked the diced mango and apple for a few minutes, until softened.  Next, I added the sugar snap peas and the couscous and cooked for a few minutes over medium heat, adding the saffron and seasoning with salt and pepper.

Then, I added the crab and the mascarpone to the hot couscous and mixed well, to melt the mascarpone.  (you could substitute butter if you prefer).  

Finally, for presentation, I used a small bowl to mold the couscous, and garnished with some of the purple cauliflower presented in last night's post.  (I don't suggest eating the cauliflower with this dish, its too bitter, but it looks to pretty).  When you are ready to eat, season with some of the lemon juice.  I used a Meyer lemon.

This dish is one I will make again and again.  An aside here, it really bothers me when people eat lousy food (that I have to be present to see or smell).  I don't mean foods I don't like, per se, just poor quality food - frozen meals, bad restaurant food, poor quality ingredients, lots of chemicals that serve no purpose, msg etc...  You're putting this stuff in your body so you should care too.  Food is an art and should be treated as such, without dumbing down our taste buds.  

For another dish with crab, check out my crabcakes prepared using Marcus Samuelsson's recipe from his new cookbook.

Sasha's Kitchen: Crab Couscous with Green Apple, Mango, Saffron and Lemon