Crab Pepper Pot

This is another excellent recipe from Cuisine at Home, a monthly recipe magazine that has simple, and very well spiced meals that are fresh and very enjoyable.  Unpretentious, and one of our current favorites (which is saying something, since we tend to be snobs about this kind of thing).

1/4 lb. Bacon, diced

2 Cups Tomato, chopped

1 cup Onion, diced

1 cup Russet Potato, peeled and diced

1 T Jalapeno 

1 T Garlic, minced

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1/2 t. black pepper

1/2 dried thyme leaves

3 cups Chicken broth (we only had 2, and added 1 cup veggie broth)

4 cups fresh Spinach, chopped

1 cup canned coconut milk (missed this the first time, but was still excellent)

8 oz (2 cups) Crab Meat

Fresh Lime, Reserved Bacon, chopped Scallions

Saute diced bacon in soup pot (used large sauce pan).  Remove and reserve 1T drippings

Stir in Tomatoes, Onion, Potatoes, Jalapeno, Garlic and Spices.  Cook over medium heat until onion begins to soften (5 minutes).

Add Broth and bring to a boil.  Simmer soup for 10 minutes.

gently stir in Spinach and Coconut Milk, simmer 3-4 minutes

Add crab meat just to heat through (stir as little as possible).

Serve with juice from a lime wedge, scallions and bacon sprinkled on top.

Scott and Linda get a pressure cooker.

So why did that take so long? We invited Shilesh and Nupur over to teach us how to make Southern Indian food (more on that later, honest) and Nupur brought her pressure cooker to make the Dahl for Sahmbar. Very cool if you're a foody. The thing builds up pressure, and releases it in aloud rush. More than that, the Dahl is cooked perfectly in 10 or so minutes. Now if you've cooked Dahl (a cross between beans and lentils) before you know that it's impossible to cook it that quickly, and if you do cook it in a hurry, it is always grainy and disappointing. Not so with a pressure cooker. So we got this one (more to come).

It is a Kuhn Rikon 3.75Qt. model (Kuhn Rikon is the stylish pressure cooker that gadget geeks like me have to get, and I'm sure that just about any pressure cooker will have similar benefits. But, it is beautiful, no? (And it does not shoot loud burst of steam like Nupur's!)

The Second picture show the pressure cooker open, with a black-eyed pea recipe that we made (and cooked to perfection in 15 minutes).


Why are pressure cookers so great?
1) They use lots less energy. You bring the water up to a boil and put the lid on. The pressure builds (a little indicator in the top rises to tell you that its up to pressure) in about a minute, and then you turn the pot to the lowest setting to maintain that pressure. Now, you are in fact boiling the bejeezus out of what's inside but you have the burner set so low that it wouldn't even make a conventional pot simmer.
2) By cooking under pressure, you force the flavor into whatever you're cooking, so not only is the food done more quickly, but it is more tasty.
3) And this is counterintuitive, while you are cooking under hight heat, with pressure that forces flavor into the food, the cooking is much more gently than a full boil would be. Because of this ingredients maintain their integrity much better than they would under conventional boiling/simmering. This made a huge difference in the Back-Eyed pea recipe, where we added some Veggie-chipotle "sausage." Veggie sausages don't have a casing, so veggie sausage can just disintegrate in chilis, and other dishes that we cook by slow simmering. Not so in the pressure cooker. When we took off the lid, the beans were soft throughout, but still had a nice snap to the skin, and the veggie sausages were completely intact. Their chipotle flavor had been forced into the beans in a way that usually only happens after you've put a dish like this away over night, and reheated the following day.

Here's the DRI moment... GET A PRESSURE COOKER!!

If you are a Vegetarian or Eco Conscious, it is a no-brainer. If you eat meat, all I can say is, most of the recipes in the cookbook that comes with the cooker are for some really tasty looking chicken and beef dishes where you are either quick roasting, or making a stew. My guess is that the meat is cooked, and juicy, and absorbs the flavors just like beans and lentils.

We continue to experiment, and every time we need to boil potatoes, or beats (as we did the other night) we do it in far less time than boiling by PCing it. If you've ever wondered, just do it. I can't belive it took us this long.

Better Than Boullion

Master ingredient. Better Than Boullion Organic Vegetable broth base is a master ingredient for making stocks and sauces. It is not just salt, which most bullion is. It is a smooth paste in a jar, so it can be stored in the fridge, and you can spoon out as much or as little as you want to make a sauce. A good example of this is to dissolve 1/2 teaspoon in 1/2 cup of white wine, to add to foil wrapped fish.  It adds some moisture and a really nice flavor. If you've got a saute that's a little dry and not as tasty as it could be, just put a little in a tea cup with a little water, or wine, and add to the pan.  We use it all the time. Get some, put it in the fridge, and add a dash here and there for flavor. It's great!

Lobster Risotto with Scallops + Shiitakes

The best use so far for the lobster stock we made and froze after a big steamed lobster and clam dinner.

Risotto:
4 Cups Lobster Stock
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 half onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese
EVOO + 1-2 Tbls butter in small pats

Scallops:
10 large Sea Scallops (do I need to say fresh?)
3/4 cup thin sliced shiitake mushrooms

Sprinkle both sides of scallops with salt and pepper and let stand. While heating stock, prepare all other ingredients. Because everything comes together at the very end, you'll want everything ready-to-go.
Make Risotto. OK, so let me take you through it once, because Risotto is one of those Master recipes; and once you learn to make one version you know how to make them all (there are lots and lots of variations which is what makes it great, but the basic technique is always the same). The key is that you will saute a bunch of ingredients (onions and garlic at the least). You will keep the heat high and actually saute the rice before adding hot stock. Because the heat is relatively high, you'll need to keep things moving in the pan to keep it from scorching. I use a high edged teflon sauce pan (not a skillet) because in the end you are making rice. When you add the hots stock to the hot rice, it will boil instantly and get absorbed into the rice quickly, but you've got to keep stirring, and adding stock as it gets absorbed or boils off. As you get to the end of the stock it will stay moist longer. Once it's Al-dente, you'll take it off the heat and do the manticare step (folding in cheese and butter to give that final beautiful coating to the risotto.
1) Make sure the stock is hot/simmering
2) saute the onions and garlic in a couple of Tbps EVOO until just soft over medium high heat.
3) add the Arborio rice (this is the Risotto rice, no substitutions), and saute for a minute or two.
4) add one cup of white wine and then hot stock one ladle-full at a time as the stock gets absorbed and boils off. It will rapidly simmer/boil and be absorbed. Keep the rice moving, turning it over on itself, without mashing it.
5) Keeping the heat up to medium high/medium, keep adding ladles of stock once the rice thickens. Keep going until the stock begin to absorbed more slowly.
6) Once the rice is just tender and a nice, slightly moist consistency, remove from heat and add butter pats and cheese. Fold in the cheese and butter, and serve.

Now, for the scallops (I hope you read ahead, because you want to have these ready to go between steps 4 or five above. Heat a skillet over medium/high heat. When the risotto is beginning to slow down in absorbing the stock, add a little EVOO to the skillet, and place the scallops in, do not move them once you place then. Cook 2 to 2:30 per side depending on how think they are (less is better, because they will finish cooking on the plate). Once you turn the scallops, add the shiitakes to the pan and mix around and between the scallops. In the final 2 minutes, the risotto should be finishing and you should be doing the manticare step (Step 6 above). Plate the Scallops and Risotto leaving shiitakes in skillet and skillet on heat drizzle just a small amount of EVOO in the skillet, move Shiitakes around a few times to coat, and then deglaze with some white wine. Serves shiitakes over scallops and risotto.

Now, the DRI version.
1) Get lobster stock out of freezer.
2) make risotto with 1 cup white wine first, and then lobster stock, using Asiago cheese for the manticare (instead of the more usual parmesan)
3) Just before rice is finished, pan sear sea scallops with shiitakes, deglazing the pan at the end.