Portuguese tomato rice

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil and butter until soft. Add peeled tomato (cut in small pieces) and simmer for 15 minutes. Add rice and fry for a couple of minutes. Add water or (better) chicken or beef stock. Season with salt and black pepper. Cook until the rice is done.

Portuguese tomato rice and pastéis de bacalhau:

Cumin rice

An easy way to spice up your plain rice.

1 cup Basmati rice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
0.5 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
2 cups water
salt and a dash of lime juice to taste. add some turmeric for color.

Heat ghee in a large heavy-bottomed vessel for about 2 minutes.
Add the cumin seeds and fry for 2 minutes till the seeds splutter.
Add the rice, lime juice, water, turmeric and salt. Mix well. Bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat and cook covered on low level for 15 minutes till all water evaporates.

Serve with dahl.

Callaloo (Trinidad)

Went to a Trinidad & Tobago restaurant yesterday: Trinbago (1e van Swindenstraat 44, Amsterdam). Ordered callaloo with beef.

From Wikipedia: "Callaloo is widely known throughout the Caribbean and has a distinctively Caribbean origin, created by African slaves using ideas of the indigenous people along with both African (okra) and indigenous (Xanthosoma) plants (See Palaver Sauce for the West African dish)."

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped celery
1/4 cup fresh thyme
1/2 cup chopped chives
15 okra, sliced
1/2 cup chopped west indian pumpkin (substitute butternut squash)
15-20 dasheen leaves, washed and coarsely chopped (or 1 bunch swiss chard and 1/2 bunch spinach)
1 cup coconut milk
1 maggi seasoning, cube plus
4 cups water or chicken stock
2 live blue crabs, cleaned and washed in lime juice (or 5-6 pieces salted beef or salted pigtail)
1 whole scotch bonnet pepper (Congo pepper)
2 tablespoons golden ray cooking margarine
1 teaspoon salt (if using maggi cube taste first before adding salt or the soup will be too salty.)

1 Put salted pork pieces in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Drain off this water. Repeat this process to draw off the excess salt from the salted meat.
2 Heat the oil in a large pot and add the onion, garlic, celery and fresh herbs. Sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add okras, pumpkin and dasheen leaves and sauté for another minute or so. Add the coconut milk and stock or water, crab and hot pepper.
3 Keep an eye on that hot pepper use one that is not bruised. You DO NOT want that pepper to burst while cooking. The heat from the burst pepper will overpower the other flavours.
4 Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about 35 minutes.
5 Taste and add salt if needed.
6 Remove hot pepper and crab or meat, and swizzle the callaloo, or put in a blender or you can use an immersion type blender, and beat until smooth. Return the crab or meat pieces to the soup. Add the cooking margarine or butter. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Stir well.
7 Serve hot as a soup on it's own or as a side dish.

Risotto con funghi

Another visual shopping list. This time for Risotto con funghi (Risotto with mushrooms). For 2-4 people.



25 gram dried porcini
175 gram fresh mushroom
juice of half a lemon
75 gram butter
2 tbsp chopped parsley
900 ml chicken or meat broth (not too strong!)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
100 ml. dry white wine
3 tbsp Parmesan
275 gram arborio (rice)
salt & pepper

Preparation in 7 steps

Step 1 Soak dried mushrooms in 350 ml warm water for 40 minutes. Drain and reserve soaking water for step 3. Cut soaked mushroom finely.

Step 2 Slice fresh mushrooms and toss with lemon juice. Melt 1/3 butter and fry mushrooms. Stir in parsley after mushrooms begin to brown and set aside.

Step 3 heat broth and add mushroom soaking water. Simmer until needed.

Step 4 Heat another 1/3 butter with the olive oil in same pan mushrooms were cooked. Stir in onion until soft and golden. Add rice and stir for a few minutes. Add soaked and sautéed mushrooms.

Step 5 Pour in wine and cook until it evaporates.

Step 6 Raise the heat and add a little hot broth. Cook until the rice dries out. Add more broth. Repeat for 20 minutes. Taste and continue until rice is al dente. This may take 35 minutes.

Step 7 Remove from heat. Stir in remaining butter and parmesan. Whisk quickly and grind some black pepper. Rest risotto for 3-4 minutes before serving.

Update: this can be a very powerful risotto (taste-wise), depending on the strength of the broth. Use a more watery broth if you want to taste the rice, mushrooms & wine better.