Weekly Recipes - 3 of 5: Risotto🇮🇹

Hello again, and welcome to part 3 of my recipe series. This week I practiced the art of the fold by way of cooking risotto. It was an arduous yet therapeutic process.

I have no ties to risotto and have probably ate it only two or three times in my life. It rarely pops up on the menus of Italian restaurants I visit here in the States. So there is no deep connection I have to the dish. However, the reason I was drawn to cooking it was because of a video I watched from one of my favorite chefs, Adam Byatt, enthusiastically making this simple dish. It highlighted the simplicity of the ingredients and the star of the dish being the most humble of ingredients: rice — arguably the most popular and widely consumed ingredient in the world? (someone fact check me) What stood out to me was the dish was less about the ingredients and more about the technique / methodology. The art of cooking risotto well is all based on allowing the rice to soak up the flavor (stock) in incremental batches (ladle pours of the stock). And hence, I wanted to attempt the cook.

Of the 3 dishes I’ve cooked so far in this series, this was the simplest one. However, what took me by surprise was the amount of time it took to properly cook the rice through. There are some key lessons I want to pass along so you don’t spend an hour and a half folding the rice continually. That is not an exaggeration.

There were various recipes I found, but this was the primary one I followed.

Ingredients

See image below. As mentioned throughout this series, nothing was measured and it was all eyeballed. In my kitchen we treat it more as an art than a science.

• Arborio Rice — A short-grained rice with a high starch content is critical. Carnaroli rice was recommended, and I believe it is the most authentic rice option. However, Arborio works great and it was the only option my grocer offered

• Yellow Onion

• Celery — Some recipes included this as a base and others didn’t

• Chicken Stock — A lot of liquid is necessary. You can either use a stock (chicken or vegetable) or water. There was not a consistent option across recipes. However, I’d suggest a flavorful stock because that results in a tastier risotto

• Parmigiano Reggiano

• Butter

• Mushrooms — Optional. Not all recipes included mushroom. However, I highly recommend them because they add a nice umami to the dish and more importantly, a nice textural contrast to the wet rice. A meatier mushroom is better. My grocer was out of King Oysters so I settled with Portobellos

• Cod — This is not traditional (or even common) whatsoever . However, I couldn’t have my full meal consisting of solely rice… granted a flavor-packed, fatty rice but still just rice, nevertheless. I needed some form of protein, so I thought a white fish would be a good option since it wouldn’t overpower the dish

• Cilantro — Not pictured below. Again, this is not traditional (or even common) whatsoever. However, I realized last minute I had extra cilantro leftover in the fridge and thought it would top the cod well

• White Wine — Many dishes recommend this, but I did not include it. The acidity is supposed to balance the richness of the dish

• Salt & Pepper

• Olive Oil — I’d suggest a flavorful oil like olive oil rather than a neutral oil like canola oil. The rice absorbs these flavors and this dish is all about allowing the rice to cook and simmer in the tastiest flavors

In case you were wondering, Zoup makes delicious bone broth.

The Cooking Process

This is a simple cook. The key is around the technique and to never allow your rice to sit. Remain attentive and avoid multitasking.

• 30 mins: ~15 mins prepping the veg by finely slicing the onion and celery (and in my case, also the cilantro). Make sure the pieces are tiny. See image below. ~5 mins rinsing and drying the mushrooms. ~10 mins grating the parmesan. I decided to grate the whole wedge so that added a bit more time. See image below to see the difference in volume between parmesan in solid wedge form versus fully grated.

• 20 mins: Sautéing the veg for ~10 mins until it turns translucent or lightly browns. Then pouring the rice in and sautéing it without any liquid to allow it to toast. My preferred recipe mentioned waiting until there is a cracking sound, which signifies that the rice is partially opening. This ultimately allows the rice to soak up the broth. I also added some butter at this point to build some flavor into the rice and to prevent it from burning.

• 90 mins: Pouring one to two ladles of broth or water into the rice and stirring continually until it reduced and the rice absorbed ~70% of the liquid. Repeating this process continually until the rice was no longer hard and finished cooking. The recipes I used said the process took ~25 mins but because of the sheer amount of rice I added originally, it took me much longer. More on this below.

• 5-10 mins: Taking the rice off the heat and incorporating parmesan, butter, and/or any other high-fat, creamy ingredient (e.g., mascarpone — not traditional but Adam suggested it in one of his versions).

• 20 mins: Cooking the mushrooms and cod separately.

Lessons Learned

Overall the cooking process for this dish was more straightforward than the other two dishes I cooked in this series. However, I had a major blunder this go round, which resulted in a much more significant lesson learned. I’ve also included some other minor lessons learned and tips below.

Do NOT be greedy, glutinous or careless like me and add more rice than necessary. This will increase the cook time exponentially (maybe linearly, but it did not feel that way at the hour and fifteen minute mark…) and is the reason why the specific step in the process of cooking the rice took me 90 mins instead of the intended ~25 mins. I finished at 10:45pm, which was not ideal… Anyways, I cooked 1 pound of rice, which was half of the full container I bought. I’d recommend about a third of that. I poured the rice into a small bowl and used one and a half of those bowls. See image below to reference the bowl size. I should have used half of a single one of those bowls. This matters because as I mentioned above, the key to this dish is to continually fold the rice over in the liquid. This folding process allows the rice to absorb the broth and to cook evenly. When your pan is crowded due to an excessive amount of rice, it creates a taller layer of rice, which results in the rice at the bottom cooking more, while the rice at the top cooks less. Avoid this uneven cook because it will ruin your final dish . While the continual folding process mitigates this issue, the more rice in the pan, the more difficult it is to prevent the uneven cook. Additionally, as you progress through the cook, the rice absorbs more liquid and the volume in the pan grows — even with much of the liquid evaporating. This results in the content in your pan edging closer to the brim, and you are at the risk of pouring the rice over the edge as your fold it. And lastly and most importantly, the more rice in the pan, the longer it takes to cook. You don’t want to spend all night folding rice, so don’t pour excessive amounts of rice!!! Err on the side of less than more.

This is related to the above point, but ensure you continually stir / fold the rice. Don’t ever let it sit. The whole cooking process for risotto is a labor of love. Letting the rice sit and trying to do something else in the kitchen will result in the rice unevenly cooking — with certain pieces turning tender and perfect, while others remain hard. Show restraint and avoid multitasking. That other task in the kitchen can wait. Never neglect the rice!

Use lots of liquid and ensure it’s flavorful (i.e., brother is better than water). My blunder of using excessive rice naturally resulted in more liquid being needed. I originally thought the full quart of bone broth would be more than enough. I quickly realized how wrong I was. I not only used all the bone broth, but I also filled the jar with water another one and a half times. All the water was used. So all in I used 80 ounces of liquid, which is more than half a gallon! This additional liquid was needed because at the 30 minute mark of the folding process and I realized the rice was still extremely hard and undercooked. So keep pouring in liquid and letting it reduce until the rice is cooked to your liking.

I recommend finely chopping the vegetables. Added bonus: it’s a chance to also practice your knife skills. The vegetables are meant to serve as a base of flavor. They are not intended to be little bite-sized chunks accompanying your rice.

Don’t rinse the rice. For other dishes you may be used to rinsing your rice until the water runs clear, which indicates the starch is removed. However, risotto requires all the starch possible, so do not wash the rice. The more starch the better. The starch enables the emulsification process that results in the ideal end product: a wet and creamy rice. The starch is what allows the broth and fats to turn into one cohesive layer that coats the rice.

Lastly, I recommend adding mushrooms to this dish. I know they are not everybody’s cup of tea. However, the taste of the mushrooms compliment the chicken- and parmesan-flavored rice very well. And to be quite frank, as tasty as the rice ends up being, eating just rice by itself is flat out boring. Topping the rice off with something — whether that be mushrooms, an egg yolk or protein — makes for a more well rounded dish. Don’t be boring!

Images of the cooking process and final output are below. As it is starting to become a consistent theme across this series, presentation is not a priority of mine. While I know what good plating looks like, I could care less about making my dish look pretty after being in the kitchen for 3 hours. I just want to eat.

Stay tuned for more dishes!

Look at that knife work. Pretty good for an amateur, if I do say so myself.

A wedge of parmesan fully grated. Look at that volume. Yum.

Sautéed veg. Don’t let yours burn like mine did. Whoops.

As mentioned above, I used one and a half of these smalls bowls worth of rice. That is WAY TOO MUCH. Use much less.

Toss in some butter for flavor.

An hour and forty mins later… The final product (pre-plating) with the parmesan incorporated.

The final product (without cod).

The true final product, inclusive of mushrooms and the non-traditional ingredients (cod and cilantro).

Weekly Recipes - 2 of 5: Khoresh Bademjan🇮🇷

A Monthlong Personal Culinary Journey

Welcome back to part 2 of my recipe series. This week’s focus takes it back to my roots, where I made a popular Persian dish called Khoresh Bademjan.

By way of the Persian culture being so historic comes a rich food scene. Generations upon generations have passed down their recipes and the result is a culture where food and cooking is deeply engrained in everyday life.

Many of you who may be unfamiliar with Persian food may still know about kabobs. These skewers of grilled meat are an extremely popular dish served not just at Persian restaurants, but Middle Eastern restaurants all over. However, lesser known outside the Persian community are Khoresh’s. A Khoresh is a stew over a bed of rice. There are too many types of Khoresh to count, but this week I chose an eggplant, beef (more traditionally lamb) Khoresh.

So putting it all together we have Khoresh = stew and Bademjan = eggplant.

Growing up I would’ve ranked Khoresh Bademjan in the middle tier on my totem pole of Persian dishes. However, as I’ve gotten older, it’s risen through the ranks. I think part of that is because I’ve grown to like eggplant much more. A shout out to this Khoresh, as well as eggplant parmesan, baba ghanoush, and any fried eggplant appetizers with a good sauce.

There were various recipes I found, but my late father’s recipe and this one were the primary ones I followed.

Ingredients

See image below. As mentioned last week, nothing was measured and it was all eyeballed. We go off vibes in this kitchen. Kidding… sort of.

• Boneless Beef Stew Chunks — Lamb shank / shoulder / leg is the most traditional route. However, I don’t think I’ve ever bought lamb from a grocer or butcher, so I don’t have a go-to spot to buy it. And to be quite frank, I don’t trust my local grocer’s (Mariano’s) sourcing for lamb or know if they even carry it. What I do recommend is that regardless of the meat you choose, make sure it’s bone-in. It adds flavor. My grocer offered only one type of stew meat and it was boneless beef

• Eggplants — Go with thinner or smaller eggplants (e.g., Japanese eggplants) if your grocer offers different varieties

• Small or Medium Tomatoes

• Yellow Onion

• Basmati Rice

• Limoo Amani (Dried Lime) — This is an extremely niche product. So if you’re like most of us who are not near a Middle Eastern market and don’t care to venture to one for a single item, then lemon juice or a lime will suffice. However, there is a fairly obvious flavor difference between the substitutes and the real thing

• Tomato Paste — Some recipes recommended it, some didn’t

• Saffron — Did you really make a Persian dish if it doesn’t have saffron in it? I guess in my case my final dish is disqualified. Sorry, I didn’t want to take a mortgage out to procure the most expensive spice in the world. Jokes aside, saffron is is a staple in Iranian dishes because not only is it a fragrant flavor, but it also adds a beautiful color to your dish. Case in point: the traditional way to prep the platter of rice served as the base for many Persian dishes is to have saffron water poured over the top of the rice to make the top layer yellow. See this image

• Turmeric

• Water

• Salt & Pepper

• Oil — Whatever you use for high temp cooking

The Cooking Process

It’s not a complicated cook but it does take some time. For many stews, especially Khoresh’s, that is no surprise because it takes time to cook the various ingredients that make up the stew. And it also takes some time for all those flavors to marry.

• 60-120 mins: Peeling and slicing the eggplants and then salting them and allowing them to sit to draw out their moisture. The longer they sit the more they sweat (i.e., their water content is released). The whole point of doing this is to intensify the eggplant flavor during the cook and to dry it out, which allows for better browning during the sauté, which again brings flavor.

• 25-30 mins: Dicing the onion and then browning it in the pot. What follows is adding the stew meat to the same pot and browning it as well. Pouring the water in at the end to allow everything to simmer.

• 30-40 mins: Sautéing the eggplant slices until they brown. Brown = flavor (i.e., Maillard reaction). Given the volume of eggplant used in this dish, you likely will need to do this part in 2-3 batches so you don’t overcrowd your pan. There should be no slices on top of each other. Each slice should have full contact with the pan.

• 10-15 mins: Slicing the tomatoes in half and then sautéing them in the same pan used for the eggplant.

• 60-180 mins: Letting the stew simmer on low heat for two to three hours. Adding in the eggplant and tomato to the top layer — ensuring they are somewhat submerged — roughly at the halfway point.

Lessons Learned

Cooking this dish brought me back to my childhood. Ooooeeey I love a home cooked dish! There is plenty of room for improvement to get closer to my parent’s level of mastery.

To start, let's discuss the importance of having a reliable source for your ingredients. Find a grocer, butcher, farmer’s market or other vendor that sources quality meat (e.g., in this case we’re talking lamb shank or a bone-in beef stew meat) and eggplant. Listen, by no means am I saying you need to be Farm to Table, but ensure your ingredients aren’t shit and that they’re halfway decent. More importantly, ensure that they actually sell those two ingredients where you normally shop. Earlier I mentioned my dilemna of not having a lamb source, as well as a very limited selection of stew meats. I was able to manage with what I found but when it came to the eggplant, that’s where I fell short. My grocer had a grand total of 4 eggplant on the shelf — all of which were mangled and beat up. They had indents and were bruised with soft spots all over (image below). So I didn’t exactly have the creme of the crop in terms of selection. And more importantly, they were “Globe” variety, which was the exact opposite shape / size I needed. While this lesson learned may sound like me venting, what I’m trying to get across is the importance of ensuring you get the correct ingredients. That starts with ensuring you have a reliable source so that you can avoid settling for inferior products OR having to go to multiple sources.

Beware of the wasteful and time consuming nature of sweating out vegetables. I used two large sheet pans, which can take up a great deal of countertop space. More importantly, I ran through what felt like half a roll of paper towels to pat dry the fronts and backs of the ~12-15 large slices of eggplant. And I went through this process twice because I resalted after the first dry-off. A more seasoned chef likely has better tips on how not to be so wasteful with the paper towels, how not to take up so much kitchen space for this one part of the prep, and how to not to make a mess due to spilling salt all over the damn kitchen. One note on the salt part: use a kosher salt. It will save you lots of time and mess. Do not use a salt grinder because it takes forever and creates more of a mess given the larger, coarser pieces of salt bouncing off surfaces (e.g., food, pans, countertops) more easily than a “traditional” salt.

Use less water. I poured way too much water after browning the beef. Some people like the stew to be more brothy / liquidy (I’d argue that then is a loaded soup). However, I stand firmly on the opposite side. There should not be a bunch of loose liquid. It should all be reduced.

This isn’t a lesson learned from this go round but rather from past cooking and eating experience. As with any stew, the flavors set overnight, and the leftovers usually taste better!

Another tip is to have the optional Sabzi Khordan plate on the side. While I say “optional”, it’s basically tradition to serve this side platter as an accompaniment to Persian dishes, especially Khoresh’s. I grew up having all the herbs and veg (e.g., radishes, green onions, sweet onion slices) with every dish and would stuff my mouth with bunches of herb and onion after every bite of the main dish. You’d think I was a rabbit… anyways, I digress.

Ok on to the most important lesson I learned: make the Tahdig — don’t be lazy. It’s worth it!! Tahdig deserves a whole separate post / recipe. However, for those unfamiliar, it’s a crunchy rice. It’s SUPER popular in Persian dishes. It’s a bragging point, a sense of pride, and for many, the highlight of this dish and many other Persian dishes. I equate it to the guilty pleasure that comes with eating dessert, but it’s like a “savory” dessert. Why I think it’s so critical to have with this dish is not because of tradition. It’s because the crunchiness provides a textural balance. When you serve the dish, you scoop the rice onto your plate and then pour the stew over it. As you progress through your meal, the rice gets mushier because it drowns in the stew broth. Additionally, the stew already has very softened ingredients in the eggplant and beef. So adding the Tahdig brings a nice crunch to the dish.

Image of the final output below. Once again I could’ve improved the presenation significantly.

Stay tuned for more dishes!

The bruised eggplant selection I had to work with, as mentioned above.

Weekly Recipes - 1 of 5: Jollof Rice🇳🇬🇬🇭

A Monthlong Personal Culinary Journey

I love to eat, and I excel (heavy emphasis) at eating. I also love to cook, but I don’t excel at cooking.

In the spirit of experimentation and growth, I am starting a new PACT (see previous blog for more info on PACTs) where I cook a different recipe for the first time each week over the course of five weeks. Each new recipe is paired with a blog, which will highlight the ingredients, the process, lessons learned and my overall thoughts on the dish.

In general, my blog covers various topics — by no means is it a cooking-specific blog. However, over the course of the next 5 weeks, this page will be cooking focused. So let this be the commencement of my cooking series.

Jollof Rice is the focus for this week. A West African staple that I’ve seen pop up on my timeline many times. I’ve seen the back and forth from different nations (especially Nigeria and Ghana) where their each claims they have the superior version. I cannot comment on which country deserves the crown due to my lack of experience. However, I can comment on the fact that Jollof Rice is quite a popular dish and that there are certain aspects that remind me of the Persian dishes I grew up eating. E.g., flavor packed rice, the extensive use of tomato and tomato paste, a rice and meat dish.

There were various recipes I found, but this was the primary one I followed.

Ingredients

See image further below. Nothing was measured. I just eyeballed everything.

• Chicken Thighs — Bone-in, skin-on was recommended. However, I already had boneless, skinless thighs

• Basmati Rice — Long-grained, parboiled rice was recommended. However, I already had a giant Costco bag of basmati

• Red Bell Peppers

• Roma Tomatoes

• Red Onion — Depending on the recipe, I saw recommendations for either red or white onions. I chose red to stay consistent with the red / orange color theme of the ingredients making up the sauce

• Habanero Peppers — Scotch Bonnet was the recommendation, but my grocer didn’t carry them

• Ginger

• Garlic

• Tomato Paste

• Chicken Broth

• Chicken Bouillon Cubes — Maggi Cubes were recommended, but my grocer didn’t carry them

• Curry Powder

• Thyme — Some recipes recommended sprigs of thyme. However, I kept it simple with jarred thyme

• Bay Leaves

• Salt & Pepper

• Oil — Whatever you use for high temp cooking

The Cooking Process

Fuck. That’s what went through my head as I entered hour 4 of the prep / cook process. This recipe took much longer than I anticipated. On the surface it sounded simple: flavored rice and some meat on the side. However, that could not have been further from the truth. A majority of the time came from the rice, specifically the sauces that served as the flavor base.

Caveat: Part of the time consuming nature is also obviously due to my lack of experience.

• 30-40 mins: Making a pseudo chicken stock. This stock is then used when cooking the rice

• 15-20 mins: Shallow frying the chicken

• 75 - 90 mins: Making the Jollof base. ~10 mins rinsing and prepping the veg. ~30 mins roasting the veg in the oven. ~10 mins blending the sauce and cleaning the blender (very annoying). ~30-40 mins reducing the sauce by half

• 30-40 mins: Frying the tomato paste and onion, then adding the base sauce and letting that simmer, then finally adding the spices and stock and letting it simmer further

• 40-50 mins: Rinsing the rice and cooking it in the base / sauce

Of course there was more time spent prepping ingredients and cleaning the chaos in the kitchen. However, the above breakdown provides an idea of the main stages of the cook.

Lessons Learned

The recipe was delicious. However, I would love to taste a properly cooked version from a pro (African mom or auntie) to experience the true flavor and consistency of the rice.

A key lesson I learned is to prep more. No, I’m not referring to cutting veg, removing excess fat from the meat, etc. When I refer to “prep”, I mean studying. Prior to getting in the kitchen, I recommend reviewing a recipe top to bottom, ideally more than once. Watching a video version is optimal. I’ll be following this tip for future recipes. Nothing worse than constantly pulling out your phone to rewind a part of the cooking video in the midst of cooking in a chaotic kitchen with dirty hands.

Following recipes annoy me, specifically measuring ingredients, especially the spices. It feels meticulous and takes away from the fun. It’s more effort for marginal improvement in my opinion. Hot take? I find winging it (reasonably winging it) to be easier and more enjoyable. I follow the mantra of cooking being more of an art than a science, which is the opposite of baking.

The Jollof base sauce was definitely a labor of love. As I was reducing it, the sauce constantly popped and splashed all over the stovetop, backsplash, and my cooking apron. The remedy was to constantly stir it. However, don’t underestimate the wrist fatigue that comes from stirring a pot nonstop for 30 mins lol. Before you suggest lowering the temp to prevent the popping, I did in fact do that. However, I think the sauce was already so hot due to the veg roasting in the oven and going straight into the blender and then right into the pot. Also, lowering the temp too much slows down the reduction process. A more seasoned chef probably has better recommendations. Just be prepared for either a mess in the kitchen or worn out arms… or both.

I used boneless and skinless chicken thighs because that’s what we already had. However, I strongly recommend using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. This will create more flavor, and the shallow fry will work better with the skin . Also, this will make the chicken look better for plating. Because the most important thing to remember when presenting a dish is: we eat with our eyes first. The skinless and boneless thigh I served looked quite ugly (unappetizing) to be frank.

The final rice output was very flavorful and tasty. However, once the rice had cooked in the sauce, it had a stronger tomato paste flavor than I anticipated. Prior to adding the rice, the sauce flavor was more robust and absolutely mouthwatering. I’m not sure what went wrong here.

My biggest lesson learned: ALLOW THE RICE TO FULLY ABSORB THE SAUCE. It should not be clumpy or sticky. The issue here is that I don’t know the solution achieve that rice consistency. All I know is that my rice didn’t absorb all the sauce. I failed miserably. It may have been due to using too little water and cooking at too high of a heat? Or maybe too much rice? I started with three cups but added an additional two because I thought there would be too much sauce at the end when I saw the excess of sauce drowning my original three cups of rice. Or maybe using basmati rice instead of the suggested parboiled rice? Or too much water? Or I didn’t blend the sauce enough? Or some other reason? Who knows the solution but the lack of absorption was the major flaw of my final dish.

Image of the final output below. I know… it’s a bit underwhelming.

Stay tuned for more dishes!