Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Risotto

 A good risotto for me trumps pasta any day. Its come to become one of my favourite italian dishes. I would also consider it a special occasion dish. It does need a lot of attention while cooking. Which is why I though it perfect to treat my mom to a fabulous risotto on Mothers day.

Risotto is a dish thats become associated with high end restaurants, but really its the epitome of italian home cooking. Every italian boy will tell you that his mama's risotto is the perfect comfort food. Its a one pan family meal that is so nutritious and packed with tons of flavour.



I chanced upon some affordable arborio rice in my recent trip to Goa. So my recipe today is as authentic as it gets. Ofcourse if you don't have arborio rice, you can use any starchy short grained rice. I've added chicken, spinach & mushrooms because that is what I had in hand. But really you can add any combination of veggies or meat. Its a perfect dish to use up leftover veggies or meat.



For a vegan version check out this recipe

Serves 4:

1 tbsp butter
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups arborio rice (you can use any starchy short grained rice as a replacement)
1 litre chicken stock
1 cup chicken
1 cup mushrooms
2 cups spinach
Salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese (optional)
4-5 basil leaves (optional)

In a heavy based pan, melt some butter. Add in the garlic and sauté till translucent. Add the rice and stir so the butter coats the rice thoroughly. Add in the white wine and simmer till it reduces.

Now the tricky bit. Use the chicken stock one ladle at a time. Add one ladle of stock in the rice and stir. The rice must completely absorb the broth before ladling another spoonful. Stir gently after each addition. About halfway through, add the mushrooms, spinach and chicken. Since these dont take too long to cook, we add them towards the end. Repeat the ladling step till all the broth is absorbed by the rice and its cooked. Once you start adding the broth the risotto usually takes 20-30mins to cook. Add in salt & pepper and your risotto is ready!



Traditionally a risotto is served with Parmigiano Reggiano, but enough with the fancy. I've served mine with regular cheddar cheese. Garnish with some basil or chives and serve with a glass of white wine.



Note: Italians like their rice al dente, which means the rice has a little bite. But I'm indian and I like my rice fluffy and well cooked. You can cook it to your preference.

Tip: You can also add some cream or milk towards the end of the cooking process. This makes the dish rich an creamy.

Cold Asian Noodle Salad With Chilli & Pineapple

It was my turn to cook dinner today and I wanted to serve guacamole with nachos (that will most likely be my next post). I recently got back from a trip to Goa, armed with a car full of local produce. You can expect a lot of recipes involving pineapple, avocado and bananas now. I reach home only to find that the avocados are still raw.

So this dish is something I threw together based on what I had in my pantry at the time (see cooking notes for potential ingredients). I love cold noodle salads on hot summer days. As weird as it sounds, its actually quite refreshing in the heat. I did however jazz it up with some dried shitake mushrooms, which I also bought from Goa. I know its weird, but Goa has the most kickass international food store.

I can write a book on shitake mushrooms. Its my all time favourite mushroom variety. Both the fresh and dried versions are fairly expensive, but their taste is irreplaceable. I'd recommend buying dried instead of fresh mushrooms, firstly because its cheaper and more intense in flavour, but also because it can keep for years. So it is a good investment! And it is completely optional in this dish.



The best thing I love about this dish is the contrasting flavours. You get the heat of chilli balanced with the sweetness of pineapples. And the mint is just a breath of fresh air.

Serves 4:

1 pack or 200gms rice noodles. I used vermicelli
1 cup bell peppers, seeds removed and thinly sliced or cubed
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chopped shitake mushrooms (optional)*

For the dressing: 

2tbsp dark soy
1tbsp light soy
(use 3 tbsp soy sauce incase you have only one variety)
1tbsp sugar
1tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp chilli flakes or schezwan sauce
Salt to taste

In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles till al dente. In the same pot of while the noodles are cooking, add the bell peppers in a strainer spoon, and cook for 2 minutes. We want the veggies to cook but still have a bite to them. Drain noodles and veggies when done and immerse in another bowl filled with cold or ice water.

In a large bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Add in the noodles, pineapples, bell peppers, mushroom and bean sprouts. Toss to coat all ingredients with the dressing. Serve in bowls, topped with chopped up peanuts.

Note: The salad can be made up to a day in advance and refrigerated. However, the pineapple must be added just before serving. If you are using vermicelli like me, the salad must be consumed within an hour or two of cooking



Tip: You can sub pineapples for mangoes or even use both.While I have made a veggie salad, you can easily create a non-veg variant. Chicken goes beautifully with pineapple. You can also add a tablespoon of fish sauce to the dressing, it makes such a difference!

You can also experiment with various noodles. My suggestion would be soba noodles as its best when served cold. You can also try angel hair pasta, pad thai noodles or even your regular egg noodles.

*I used dried shitake mushrooms. To use dried mushrooms, you need to soak them in hot water. Remove the stem and soak them in pipping hot water till soft. However soaking them overnight (if you have the time) does wonders. The soaking liquid works well as a stock for other recipes.

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Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

There is nothing like being able to satisfy a sweet tooth craving on a moment's notice. In less time than it take for the oven to preheat, you can have these ready and waiting on the baking tray.



(Adapted from www.barefeetinthekitchen.com)

1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius. In a bowl, stir all ingredients till smooth. Scoop into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can also roll into balls with your hands and press down on the sheet. The dough isn't runny so you can really mould it as you like. Bake for 15mins and then let it cool. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!



If you choose to add an extra egg (like I did), the cookie dough will not be firm enough to roll in your hands. You will have to use a scooper. They will also need a bit of time to settle as they cool and will be gooier.



Tip: You can also experiment with different flavourings like sea salt, chocolate chips or even rum.

And my favourite way to eat these are either sandwiched with jam or cream cheese. Yum!

The Ultimate Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken is the perfect community dish. It reminds me of so many Sundays where we would just sit around one big chicken & devour it.
My idea of cooking is one that requires minimum effort but produces beautiful dishes. So when you talk to me about Roast Chicken, I can't be bothered to truss or baste the chicken. My only requirement to a perfect roast chicken is that it be moist and juicy & I think this is where most recipes get it wrong.

This recipe that I'm sharing today is a combination of bits from Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal & my very own Shrey Kamerkar's recipe.  Follow this recipe and I promised you a fail safe juicy, moist & tender roast chicken - one which takes minimal effort with finger licking results.

This is a special occasion dish nonetheless and needs some advance prep time (1 day prior).



Quantities enough for one whole chicken 

For the chicken:
1ltr brine or salt water
1 ltr Buttermilk

For the stuffing:
1 cup sausgaes
1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp HP sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire
3 cloves garlic
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup cheese
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
a few leaves of fresh basil
1 tbsp Butter
Salt & pepper to taste
1 large potato

For the outer flavouring of the chicken:
1 cup butter
2 tbsp paprika or chilli powder
Salt & pepper to taste

Wash the chicken throughly in water. In a large pot, add cold water and salt. For every 2 cups of water, add 1 tablespoon of salt. Immerse the chicken in this salted water and let it refrigerate for atleast 6 hours. This technique is called brining. Brining is a very neat trick which ensures you get a juicy chicken everytime. Brining makes the meat moist by hydrating the cells of the chicken's tissue before cooking. It locks in all the lovely juices and flavour and will give you a fabulous juicy chicken once the meat is cooked.

After 6-10hours, remove the chicken from the brine and throw out the water. In the same pot, now add in the buttermilk. Soak the chicken in buttermilk and refrigerate overnight. The buttermilk works to cleanse and tenderise the chicken.

To make the stuffing:

Chop up the sausages to tiny bits. In a pan, add a tablespoon of butter followed by sausages, mushrooms and the garlic. Sautee for 2-3 mins. Add in the mustard, HP & worcestershire sauce. Add in the seasonings i.e. oregano, thyme, basil, salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add in shredded cheese. Set aside and let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and throw out the butter milk mixture. Rinse the chicken well to remove the buttermilk from the inner crevices. Stuff the inside of the chicken with the stuffing mixture. Do not over stuff. Add enough stuffing to fill out the chicken, not to spill over. Add the whole, large potato at the end. The potato acts as a stopper. It will let the chicken hold its shape and also prevent the stuffing from falling out.



Rub the outside of the chicken with butter and paprika. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Place on a baking dish.



Add half a cup of water around the chicken in the baking dish. Cover with aluminium foil. The aluminium foil will help the chicken steam in its own juices, making it even more flavourful. Before placing in the oven, reduce temperature to 150 degrees Celsius.  Roast for 1 hour.

You may think that 150 degrees is too low a temperature to cook the chicken, and you are right. But cooking the chicken at a higher temperature initially will result in drying it out. You want to slowly cook the chicken and gradually raise its temperature. At the last 10 mins of the cooking process we will blast out the heat to its maximum setting. This will give the chicken a nice golden colour and will crisp up the skin.

After an hour, raise the temperature to 200 degrees. Remove the chicken from the oven, spread a blob of butter around the top and skin, re-seal with foil and put it back in the oven. Bake for another 30mins-45mins until the chicken is fully cooked. To test if the chicken is cooked, Insert a knife at the thickest part of the chicken (usually the breast), and touch the knife to your lip. If the knife feels hot, it means the chicken is cooked.

Now turn your oven to the maximum heat setting. Remove the foil from the dish. Add a generous amount of butter on the chicken and put it back into the oven for 10 mins.

Remove from oven and let it sit for half an hour before chopping it up. At this point I also add in spring onions around the chicken as it soaks up all the beautiful juices in the dish.



To serve, scoop out the stuffing in a bowl. In another bowl, pour all the baking juices from the baking dish. For those of you who don't know how to cut up a whole chicken, follow this video

Serve up pieces of chicken with a bowl of the stuffing and roasting juices on the side.

I wasn't kidding about my chicken...look how juicy that is!

Tip: Once you've carved and chopped up the chicken, preserve the leftover bones. These are packed with flavour and make a killer stock when boiled with water.