Royal elegance of a simple radicchio risotto.

My version of the beautiful and tasty Italian dish. Only rice and veggies, another weekday lunch.
Actually that was delicious and so luxurious that I regretted having it for a casual lunch. I mean, for a rice like that, you should throw a party, a royal wedding or something like that.

I had a radicchio (Trevise salad) waiting to be cooked. Why not a risotto ? I have cut the leaves in thin ribbons, and mixed them with good Japanese rice (polished hatsuga mai germinated rice).

I made a few risotti before with step-by-step photos

risotto compil’

I use my rice-cooker pot on the stove, then I can put it back mid-way into the cooker and use the stay-warm function.
Olive oil, garlic, a few red raisins, red wine and a broth of (edible) beer yeast and salt. Flavored with thyme.

The velvety rice !

A piccata of parsley, olive oil, lemon zest and a few spices.

Toasted almond slices.

Bean terrine lunch

Open the fridge, sit down and eat… And it’s good. Sure, I had things in stock.

This vegan terrine that should have lasted… more than 2 days. It didn’t. Too good to stock. (recipe here : azuki terrine).

With hot rice from the rice-cooker. It’s hatsuga genmai, germinated brown rice as usual.

Tarragon vinegar pickles. I mixed red onion, cucumbers, yellow paprika, red chili. Just a few days in the brine (vinegar, dry tarragon, salt, water).

Dessert : the season fruit basket.

Rice and beans. And nameko.

You don’t need much food : rice and beans. And you’re good to go. With a few veggies it’s even better. In many countries over the world, generations of people have lived eating this roughly at every meal. I like more variety, but once in a while, that’s great.

Hatsuga genmai germinated brown rice (read more).

Kuromame, black soy beans.
They are hard cookies… Well, you need time. With a good long soaking 2 or 3 hours. Without, some say 8 hours. So make a big batch and you can freeze what you don’t use.

Cooking black soy beans (kuromame) :

-Rinse the beans. Place them 24 hours in cool water (in the fridge if it’s hot)
-Bring to boil, skim the foam.
-Cook on moderate heat till tender.
-Add seasonings, sauces… and simmer till very tender, or as you like.

Japanese trick : to get a nicer color, some add a few rusty nails (in a tea pouch) to soak and cook with the beans.

Kuromame beans, simmered with red onion, garlic, tomato paste, chili, olive oil.

Sticky mushrooms called nameko.

Blanched and refreshed with komatsuna greens. The seasoning is soy sauce, black vinegar and sansho pepper.

That makes a solid delicious vegan meal.

Shio-yaki iwashi. With 2 sardines…

Sardine is an ordinary fish, but it’s very tasty. We get fresh ones easily and cheaply.

Shio-yaki iwashi. Salt grilled sardines, the Japanese style. I just empty them, clean, sprinkle salt and grill 5 minutes. Served with greens.
5 minutes for the sides :

Reheated Hatsuga genmai, sprouted rice.

Veggie stir-fry… all what I had left.

A quick soup : togan (Winter melon) cooked with carrot and seasoned with soy sauce.

The meal !

Chicken wing Summer paella

A healthier paella, with germinated brown rice. It’s just as delicious.

No seafood today. I’m back to the original paella with rabbit and snails… No wait, they don’t have that at the local butchers. So I settled for chicken wings.
I don’t need a pretext for a paella but :

Our Daring Cooks’ September 2012 hostess was Inma of la Galletika. Inma brought us a taste of Spain and challenged us to make our very own delicious Paella!

If you want seafood :

a black paella (click here)

Fideuà (pasta paella) with octopus
Fideuà with shrimps
Fideuà with calamari (recipe)
Paella with asari shells
Paella with shrimps

The rice :
So this time, I have used hatsuga genmai (read here how to prepare it), germinated brown rice. I’ve let it dry one hour before using.

The meat :
I salted and grilled chicken wings. Then I’ve added them and their juices to the broth.

Veggies : season’s greens.

Making it…

The rice is al dente… Last leg of the trip.

Final flavoring : red chili, saffron and rosemary.
I have added at the start a good amount of paprika and turmeric for the color. This saffron is for the taste.

Mmmm….