June 1, 2021 Risotto

We just returned from a relaxing weekend with friends in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  Even though it rained 3 days straight, we managed to have a wonderful time.  We laughed, ate, drank, and slept. Dianne and Phil have 2 new puppies, Nora and Lou, and they are just wonderful bundles of fluff.  St Bernard puppies are adorable, but really HUGE!  We got acquainted with Elle, Claire and Jon's St Bernard and it was a weekend of fluffiness.

The drive back wasn't bad, it was pretty quick, with stops, just under 4 hours, biggest delays were once we hit Staten Island and Brooklyn. Smooth sailing before that!

After communing with our kitties, who were delighted to see us, we returned to the daily grind of life in Brooklyn!  Checking on the garden, watering the plants on the other terrace, removing weeds, planting new things, cleaning up after the cats and discovering more new toys.  Up until now, they have been very content with cardboard toilet rolls, balls of tin foil, and pieces of string.  I bought some catnip infused sticks that they are going ape for.  We have dubbed them, Senor Stick.  To distinguish it from Ropey.

Back to food, I lost myself for a second.  I used a recipe from NYTCooking for Shrimp and Pea Risotto

The recipe called for shrimp stock, and the shrimp I had were shelled, so I couldn't make the stock, but I used a mixture of homemade and boxed chicken stocks that turned out great.

The saffron gave the rice a lovely yellow sun-shine-y hue.

I also used frozen shrimp, so sue me, and it turned out quite nice.  The shrimp went into the pot just as the rice was almost finished cooking and I covered the pan and killed the heat.  Peas went in at the same time on top of the still frozen shrimp.  After 3 minutes, I uncovered the pan and flipped the shrimp over and recovered for another 3 minutes.  It was perfectly done.  The rice was firm, but not crunchy, the shrimp just cooked through and the green peas gave the yellow something to play against.

Dateline: February 16, 2021 Chorizo, Rice, and Black Beans

I needed to clear up some space in the freezer, so out came the homemade chorizo and then I had to figure out what to do with it.

As I didn't think about dinner until late afternoon, I pulled out the instant pot and decided to make some kind of stew-ish thing.  

Ingredients

1 lb chorizo, hopefully, homemade, broken into chunks

2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 14 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped 

1 c basmati rice

1 c water

2 T chili powder

1 t cumin powder

1 T smoked paprika

1 t mexican oregano

saffron threads, optional

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced with extra T of the sauce

1 chopped red finger pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.  Heat Instant Pot and briefly saute the sausage to render some of its fat.  If the sausage was lean, which mine was, there is no need to drain out the fat.  Otherwise, remove as much fat as you can.  Add in onions, garlic, finger pepper, and a bit of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and cook until onions are translucent.

2.  Add in chipotle peppers and extra sauce, canned tomatoes, beans, chili powder, paprika, cumin, saffron, oregano, and option saffron, if using.  Stir to combine.  

3.  Adjust Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 20 minutes.  Allow to reduce pressure naturally for 5-8 minutes, then quick release.  Taste for seasoning.  Add rice and water and close the lid and adjust time for another 5 minutes of high pressure.  Allow to release naturally.  If you get a burn message, add more water and stir well.  The rice should absorb almost all of the liquid in the pot.

This was almost like a jambalaya, which was fitting as it was Fat Tuesday!

This was very spicy and addictive at that!  We both were blowing our noses but kept reaching for more.... the power of spice.  If your chorizo is not very spicy, add some more chipotle peppers to build the heat!