March Daring Cooks:Risotto

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

The MUST in this challenge were to make your own stock and risotto base. After than your creative imagination could take control.

I decided to toast some spices and add those into the stock recipe. I didn't have a whole chicken in my freezer at this time so I just used chicken wings. I made a smaller amount because I only had about 1-lb of the wings and didn't want to purchase extra food just for this challenge. My "stock" turned into more of a broth, but it was still tasty.

Preparation time:
Stock: 20 minutes prep time, 3 hours cooking.


Equipment required:
• 5 Litre stock pot, or other large pan
• knife
• chopping board
• tablespoon
• teaspoon
• sieve
• ladle
• hand blender (optional)
• wooden spoon or other stirring implement
• grater
• saucepans
• measuring cups
• scales

Chicken Stock

Ingredients:
1 large chicken 2-3 pounds about 1 kg
chicken bones 2-3 pounds 1 kg
2 onions, roughly diced
1 medium leek - white part only, roughly diced
2 sticks celery, roughly diced
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. white peppercorns ( Any type of whole peppercorn will do)
2 bay leaves (fresh or dried, it doesn't matter.)
peel of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. allspice


Directions:

1.Wash the chicken and bones and places in a 5 Litre pot, cover completely with water and bring to a boil

2.Skim away any scum as it comes to the surface

3.Add the vegetables and bring back to a boil

4.Add the rest remaining ingredients and simmer very gently, uncovered for 1.5 hours

5.Carefully lift out the chicken, set aside. The chicken meat can be removed from the chicken, shredded off and used for other things like soup!

6.Simmer the stock gently for another hour. At , at the end you should have around 2 Liters

7.Carefully ladle the liquid into a fine sieve, the less the bones and vegetables are disturbed in this process the clearer the stock will be. 
The stock is now ready for use. Freeze what you don't need for later use.

My chosen risotto recipe came out of necessity. I had 1 extra cup of mashed sweet potatoes after making some Sweet Potato Biscuits for my sister's birthday. I had already been trying to come up with ideas for this challenge and this helped me settle on something. I had frozen corn and a cabinet full of spices and herbs, so why not sweet potatoes and corn with some curry? Instead of the white wine called for in the initial recipe I used some marsala.

Since I pretty much changed the recipe, I won't post the one from the challenge. Instead, I will post my version.

Sweet Potato and Corn Risotto

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onions

10 ounces risotto
3 1/2 cups broth

1 tablespoon marsala

8 ounces sweet potatoes, mashed

4 ounces frozen corn, thawed

1/8 teaspoon curry powder

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

pinch of pepper

sprinkle of nutmeg

sprinkle of cinnamon

Heat olive oil and butter, then add onions. Sautee until translucent. Add risotto and stir constantly for 5 minutes.

Add about a cup of stock at a time to the risotto and stir until each addition is absorbed. Once all stock has been absorbed add the marsala, sweet potatoes, and spices. Stir until everything is well blended.

Serve immediately

This recipe has the sweetness from the potatoes, but not enough heat. Personally, I would kick up the heat with more chili powder, but if you don't like spicy foods this would be perfect.

Daring Cooks September Challenge

This month's challenge was chosen by Debyi of http://www.healthyvegankitchen.com. She chose Indian Dosas from the refresh cookbook by Ruth Tal. This recipe comes in three parts, there are the pancakes, the filling, and the sauce. This is a must try recipe for anyone, especially if you love hummus. The filling is almost like a crunchy curried hummus and it is so delicious. The pancakes were so soft, somewhat like a crepe. I didn't care for the sauce by itself, but on top of the dish it was great.

I'm glad that I gave this challenge a try because it was a change from the usual for me and since the folks in my house are so picky I took it to work and we ate it for lunch. It was a big hit!!


The recipe is as follows:

Indian Dosas
This recipe comes in 3 parts, the dosas, the filling and the sauce. It does take awhile to make, but the filling and sauce can be made ahead and frozen if need be. You can serve them as a main course with rice and veggies, or as an appetizer. This does take a little planning ahead, so make sure you read the recipe through before starting .

Serves 4
Equipment needed:
large bowl
whisk
griddle or skillet
ladle (or large spoon)
spatula
vegetable peeler &/or knife
large saucepan
food processor or bean masher

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour)
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz)
almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.) I made my own almond milk and got the recipe online
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated
Dosa Toppings:
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter.
Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.
5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.