Risotto tastes more savory with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Rice and cheese can be a rich and lusciously creamy combination. For this reason, Supplì al Telefono, fried rice balls stuffed with mozzarella, is one of my favorite Roman dishes. Its rich taste and mouthwatering texture are an intense culinary delight.
Supplì al Telefono is often made with both Parmigiano and mozzarella. I first tried it at a restaurant in Piazza del Popolo, in Rome. I was pleasantly overwhelmed with cheese and rice. I would hardly compare these balls of cheese to American mozzarella sticks. The addition of rissoto and oregano creates a totally unique aromatic milky texture. In his book Molto Italiano, Mario Batali states "These suppli' have a cult that is all their own; you will find us strutting down the streets of the Eternal City, stretching strings of mozzarella from our hands to our gluttonous mouths."
While you can find this Roman gastronomic treat at several Italian restaurants, it's easy enough to make on your own. And, you can make several different variations. Gourmet has a recipe that uses mushroom risotto. Mario Batali's recipe calls for porcini mushrooms, prosciutto, and San Marzano tomatoes. Supplì al Telefono are the perfect appetizer when entertaining. Next time, you're thinking of eating a melted cheese dish, take out your leftover risotto and concoct these stuffed rice balls.
Inspired by fellow Slashfoodie Monika Bartyzel's recent post on using ingredients we already have, I decided to cook up a few of the many grains I've hoarded over the past few months...okay, more than just a few months. There's no other kind of food I buy more compulsively. Stone-ground grits, hard red wheat flour, orzo, coarse polenta, pasta in a variety of shapes, fregola sarda - shall I go on?
The starch closest to my heart, though, may be jasmine brown rice. I first learned of this lovely product during a charmed encounter at Bangkok Center Grocery, a jewel box of Thai ingredients in Manhattan's Chinatown. Another customer, a Thai lady, had taken an interest in me because she saw that I was buying ingredients to make my own curry paste and, after I had paid, she, along with her equally winsome Chinese friend, urged me to buy a shrinkwrapped bag of jasmine brown rice imported from Thailand. The price of the rice alone did not meet the credit card minimum, and I had no cash, but the store owner saw my distress at turning down the ladies' recommendation, and he let me take the rice on credit.
"Pay next time," he said. In Manhattan. And I a first-time customer. I thought that only happened to valued clients in tiny towns.
I gave away most of my foodstuffs when I moved from Atlanta to New York, but I did transport a half-empty bag of jasmine brown rice (pictured). Like regular jasmine rice, it cooks up to be fragrant and fluffy, nutty and chewy - perhaps even nuttier and chewier due to its being brown. The method for and a picture of my pilaf - not very Thai at all, mind you - follows the jump.
I typically use recipes in one of two ways. In the best case scenario, I consult a recipe before I shop so that even if I choose to tweak things a bit, I'm at least starting with all the appropriate raw materials. But then there are those evenings when it's chilly outside or I'm just feeling too lazy to shop, and I need a recipe that makes use of whatever's in the fridge, freezer, and pantry.
Last night was the second scenario. I had a pack of chicken thighs thawing but no plan for them. At first I printed out a recipe for chicken divan, knowing full well that I would have to substitute 2-percent milk for the cream and whole milk. Then I realized that I'd accidentally bought bone-in thighs. The thought of carving up chicken thighs to make a casserole sounded like a major pain. I remembered a recent charmed encounter with lamb biryani takeout, so I looked up some recipes for a chicken version online.
Most had a laundry list of ingredients, but then I found a very simple preparation on Mark Bittman's blog, Bitten. I still didn't have everything on the list: no fresh ginger, no saffron, no basmati. His recipe calls for a whole cut-up chicken; I figured the thighs would substitute nicely.
I added some curry powder in place of the missing spices, and threw in a pinch of fragrant dried spearmint leaves. I think whole cardamom pods are probably pretty integral to biryani (though I think the ten he calls for is a few too many), but then again, saffron and basmati probably are, too. The point is that you can work with the spices, and the kind of rice, and the cuts of chicken you have, and this ambrosial casserole will warm you right up.
As much as I adore my job, I tend to get the Sunday evening blues and have found as of late that labor-intensive cooking projects prove to be wonderfully soothing. It might be a bread knead, a painstakingly crimped lard crust pie, or, as it's manifested for the second week in a row, a unexpectedly soul-stirring risotto. Emphasis is on the "stirring" part, I assure you, as two times now, I've darned near sprained a forearm muscle with the non-stop drag of the wooden spoon through the ever-thickening starch. It's worth it, though -- the constant, meditative motion -- when it suddenly, palpably, audibly even, transforms the individual rice grains into a sumptuous, silken mass. It's the sort of culinary alchemy that transforms me from a solitary kitchen wretch into someone who suddenly wants to feed everyone she's ever met.
Last week's Acorn Squash Risotto from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano cookbook was a rousing success with my husband, as evidenced by this habitual leftover-snubber's willingness to dig back in on subsequent weeknights. This week's pulled pork variation, made on a whim, was a hearty treat tonight, and I've got a sneaking suspicion the flavors will meld well over the next few days.
Try for yourself. My Pulled Pork Risotto recipe is after the jump, and if you've got any soothing cooking rituals you'd like to share, I'd be more than grateful to hear about 'em.
Got the late January blues? In my opinion, nothing chases away the shadows like a big, hot, tropical-flavored meal. That's why I'm making nasi lemak this Saturday night, as part of a Malaysian-themed dinner party (pineapple tarts will also be on the menu).
One of the staple dishes of Malaysian cuisine, nasi lemak is rice steamed with coconut milk and served (usually) with hard-boiled eggs, tiny anchovies, sambal (chili paste), sliced cucumbers and (occasionally) fried chicken. It's often served for breakfast at Malaysian street stalls, or sold cold and wrapped up in banana leaves as a quick on-the-go lunch. Nasi lemak is eaten with your fingers, as is traditional in Malaysia - most restaurants have a tea pot full of cold water and a bucket for pre- and post-meal washing.
The rice is soft and moist and rich with coconut milk, the sambal pungeant with chili and prawn paste. Cucumbers add coolness, peanuts and tiny anchovies (called ikan bilis) add crunch. Check out this recipe, at Rasa Malaysia.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Another great example of the Japanese obsession with kawaii (cuteness), this dangerously adorable Pokemon-themed bento from Kotaku features two onigiri decorated with Pikachu-stamped nori and a fish cake with an embedded Pikachu image.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's bento makes the most of food coloring, with yellow, blue, pink and purple letter mini-onigiri stuffed with tuna and shaped like letter blocks. Letter details are cheese. The teddy is stuffed with tuna, wasabi and mayo, with nori and cheese details. The box is filled out with broccoli and shumai dumplings.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Here's another great kiddie bento, from Bento Corner. The little girl is made of tomatoes, kamaboko (fish cake), and quail egg with nori details. The rabbit is kamaboko with nori details. Both lay on a bed of rice. On the side is lotus root, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, yam cake and burdock root.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
This bento, from I Love Egg, is called "fun with the nori cutter." It features beet flowers, a rice star, celery, frozen cherries, fried pork, mashed parsnip dyed pink with beet juice in a geometric mold, all adorned with little nori curlicues cut with a craft store paper cutter.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
This very cool ghost bento comes from the nifty Zakka Life blog. The two happy onigiri ghosts sit atop a (pork or beef slice?) cliff as nori bats flap their wings across a lemon moon. The tiny bottle of skull-and-bones "soy poison" is my favorite touch.
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Aelith's Halloween bento includes an onigiri jack-o-lantern with nori face and squash stem stuffed with leftover carne guisado (stewed beef), a jack-o-radish with jarlsberg cheese, a cocoa roll with chocolate "bat" topping, and "fried goat thymus" (actually Korean dumplings).
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
This eerie entry, from the Reiko's Bento Lab photostream from Los Dragonnes, is one of my pre-Halloween favorites. A nori spider creeps up a "bloodied" wall of salmon rice, probably planning an attack on the unsuspecting potato croquettes and fish salad with star-cut carrots next door...
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Earlier this week we saw Sakurako Kitsa's roma tomato ladybug; today we've got a ladybug of a slightly different stripe (spot?). Check out Lucky Sundae's fried rice and ketchup ladybug, with nori details. It sits together with a happy fish cake cloud and a quail egg pickled pink with plum wine vinegar.
Having been with Slashfood a few days now, it is time for me to tell you about my favorite food: The onigiri.
I shall preface this by saying I am not Japanese, nor have I been anywhere in Japan other than the Tokyo airport. I have discovered and fallen in love with the onigiri in New York City alone. Let no ocean put us asunder.
The onigiri is like a rice and fish sandwich. There's fish or fish eggs, seaweed, what-have-you in the middle, packed in compacted rice and then wrapped in a handy piece of seaweed (for holding). I recommend the onigiri from JAS Mart in New York. I tried several from Sunrise Mart on Broome Street, but I always found bones in the salmon. Um...no thanks.
They are delicious, convenient, and cheap, we're talkin' like under $2 in New York City. Onigiri are the ideal thing to pick up on-the go, like a power bar for someone who prefers actual food to a science experiment wrapped in chocolate.
Eat your heart out, Earl of Sandwich. Can't find them in your town? For a great recipe (with pictures), click here!
For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.
Today's bento is a masterpiece of vari-colored rices. From Los Dragonnes' Reiko's Bento Lab stream, it features a turtle with a saffron-colored curry rice neck and feet, and a parsley rice shell with broccoli spots. The background is anchovy and salmon in purple potato flakes. On the side is a cupcake liner full of sesame chicken and some tofu mackarel cakes.
We can change the way we make eggs -- scrambled, poached, fried -- but what about changing the eggs themselves? Mix up your scrambling routine with quail eggs.
Inspired by fellow Slashfoodie 
I typically use recipes in one of two ways. In the best case scenario, I consult a recipe before I shop so that even if I choose to tweak things a bit, I'm at least starting with all the appropriate raw materials. But then there are those evenings when it's chilly outside or I'm just feeling too lazy to shop, and I need a recipe that makes use of whatever's in the fridge, freezer, and pantry. 
Second Helping of Slashfood - June 19
Competitive-Eating Contest to Pit Humans Against Elephants
The Backyard Boom - The Hungry Bride
