Lemon Mushroom Risotto with Scallops

It's been a record now! I have not contributed towards my blog for the past 4 months and I feel sorry about it. I do not have enough excuse for this blunder but yeah I was busy giving exams (Yes, I cleared my PMP certification - deserve a pat on the back), roaming with parents and in-laws and getting pampered :). But yes, how could I forget about my baby (my blog) just because I am going to have a baby!?! So here is my latest creation :)
My husband and I are fans of Hell's Kitchen and inspired by Gordon Ramsay's Risotto I wanted to make Risotto too. I had tried once before and loved it. I didn't blog about it then and so I thought why not try it once again so that I can give correct measurements.

Although I would like to warn you about couple of things before making risotto:
1. It takes a lot of time and patience to make Risotto. Even though many websites and cook books say 25-30 minutes as cooking time, it takes at least 45 minutes (stirring constantly)
2. It is fattening - so if you are a health freak like me, just workout 1-2 hours more in the week but please do not try to reduce the amount of butter from the recipe (as I have already done so. Any less than this wouldn't taste good - tried that too)

I found this recipe behind the rice packet that I bought and I added my own taste to it to make it lime n lemony.

Ingredients: 
Arborio rice - 1.5 cups
Vegetable/chicken broth - 6 cups
White wine - 1/4 cup (optional)
Mushrooms, sliced - 2 cups
Onions, chopped - 1 medium
Garlic, minced - 3 cloves
Parsley, chopped - 2 tspn
Parmesan Cheese - 3 tbspn
Butter - 4 tbspn
Lemon Juice - 3 tbspn


Procedure: 

1. Keep the broth on the stove on medium heat till it boils.
2. In the mean time, saute mushrooms in 1 tbspn till soft and keep it aside to cool. 
3. Now saute the onions and garlic in the rest of the butter till translucent. Then add the rice to the onion-garlic mixture. Mix it well for a minute or so.
4. On medium heat, add the white wine and stir it till the wine is absorbed by the rice. In similar fashion, start adding 1/2 cup broth at a time and cook till all the broth is absorbed by the rice, stirring occasionally so that the rice doesn't stick.to the bottom. 
5. Repeat the above step till the rice is cooked al dente. Personally, I like it cooked a little more than al dente.
6. Now, add the mushroom, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and parsley, mix well and serve with scallops.

Variations: 
You can modify this recipe in many ways - get rid of lemon, add herbs etc.

Conclusion:
The Mushroom Lemon Risotto with Cajun scallops turned out really yummy. Even the baby was dancing with happiness :)

Shrimp Jambalaya

I am writing this as I am making the shrimp Jambalaya. This dish came to my mind thinking of the leftovers I had at home and I had marinated Cajun Chicken which was lying in the fridge for tonight's dinner. So to accompany the Cajun Chicken, I thought of making Shrimp Jambalaya (as I had shrimp in the freezer and no sausage or boneless chicken).
We eat this dish very often at The Farmer's Market. The name of the stall is The Gumbo Pot. First of all, I never knew what the difference in Jambalaya and Gumbo was. So I googled and found out that both the dishes belong to New Orleans (Southern Amrica) and both are spicy. The difference is with rice and without. Jambalaya has rice (lot of it!) and Gumbo doesn't! Jambalaya is a little thick, but Gumbo is soup-like with Oakra in it to give it a nice texture (although I do not like slimy Oakra).

Ingredients: 
Onion, chopped - 1/2
Tomato, chopped - 1/2
Bell Pepper, chopped - 1/2
Garlic - 2pods
Cayenne - 1/2tspn
Cajun Spice - 2 tspn
Oregano - 1/2tspn
Parsley Flakes - 1/4 tspn
Rice - 1/3 cup
Chicken Broth - 2 cups
Shrimp, peeled and deveined - 2 cups
Oil
Salt to taste

Procedure: 

1. Heat some oil in a pot and saute onions, bell peppers and garlic for 4-5mins.
2. Now add all other ingredients except for chicken broth and shrimp.
3. Saute for another 2mins and add chicken broth to it and cook it (with lid on) for 35-40mins or till rice is cooked and desired consistency is achieved, on low heat.
4. Now add some salt and shrimp and cook it for 2 mins more. South American flavors are lingering in my kitchen!

Variations: 
You can vary Jambalaya as you want. Add some chicken pieces to it, throw in some sausages and other veggies. It will still taste GREAT!


Conclusion:
I cooked it but had it the day after. The flavors had soaked in well. We relished it with Grilled Cajun Chicken....yummy!

Thai Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice

This was an accompaniment to the Spicy Chicken Satay I made last week. It is a very tropical fried rice with sweet n' sour taste. The taste of pineapple is the dominant of all.

Ingredients:
Cooked Rice - 2 cups
Pineapple, 1/2inch pieces - 1 cup
Fish sauce - 1Tbspn
Shrimp, healess & deveined - 12-15
Bell Peppers - 1/2 cup
Shrimp Paste - 1/2 tspn (Optional)
Garlic cloves, finely chopped - 3
Soy Sauce - 1 Tbspn
Chilli Sauce - 3tspn
Chilli Powder - 1 tspn
Green Chillies, slit - 2
Sugar - 1 tspn
Salt to taste
Oil

Procedure: 

1. Heat some oil in a pan and add chopped garlic, slit green chillies and sautee it for 1 min. Then add bell peppers, shrimp paste and pineapple and sautee for 2-3mins. (This stinks a lot)
2. Now add fish sauce, soy sauce, chilli sauce, chilli powder and rice to the pan and mix it well. After mixing it well, add the srimps and salt and cook for 3-5mins, or till the shrimps are cooked.
3. Garnish with some cilantro and serve when hot.

Variations: 
Do not use fish oil and shrimp paste if you cannot bear the smell of it. It really smells a lot but definitely enhances the taste of the fried rice.

Conclusion:
It was a spicy fried rice with some sweet pineapple taste. Something new for the taste buds.

Rice Pudding/Rice Kheer/Narali Bhaat

Happy Gudi Padva/Ugadi to one and all. I know I am a little late for that but that is when I made the Rice kheer. My mother makes a variety of rice kheer and I love all of them.

'Rakshabandhan' or Rakhi Pornima and Narali Pornima are celebrated with Narali bhaat at my place. I used to wait for Rakhi Pornima just to hog on the narali bhaat, and the gift ofcourse.
On the occasion of Gudi Padva, which was a Monday, I wanted to cook a full meal with some sweet and I had all the ingrdients handy for Narali Bhaat :). The menu for Gudi Padva was Paneer Bhurji, Daal Fry, Lachcha Paratha, Rice and Narali Bhaat.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1/2 cup
Condensed Milk - 1 small can
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Cardamom/Elaichi Powder - 1/2 tspn
Cashews, chopped - 7-8
Shredded Coconut - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

1. Overcook the rice with more water to make it mushy.
2. Add coconut milk, condensed milk and cashews to the rice and cook it for 10 minutes on med-high heat till it is thick in consistency.
3. Now grind coconut, and some rice and cashews together and add it to the kheer.
4. Now add the milk and some sugar if need be and cook for another 5-8mins.
5. Add Elaichi and Kesar (Optional) and serve chilled.

Variations: 
You can add almonds instead of cashews and it will still taste great. Also, if you do not have condensed milk, no worries add sugar as per your taste and cook the mixture for some more time.

Conclusion:

Yummilicious kheer or Narali Bhaat. We ate it for 3 days and still I am craving for some as I am writing this.