Donna Walsifer
moving and cooking
I’ve been temporarily sidelined with my recovery. My husband takes me to physical therapy three times a week, food shopping at Wegmans and Costco and occasionally dining out. Being in the house is starting to drive me crazy, thank goodness I’m getting more mobile.
I am able to stand longer and have begun seeking out new recipes. I recently had a craving for risotto. While I thought I would make Risotto alla Milanese, I found a recipe in Marcella Hazan’s book “The Classic Italian Cook Book” for Risotto with Parmesan Cheese. I found Ms. Hazan’s recipe to be interesting as the broth could be homemade meat broth or chicken broth mixed with water. Forgive me Ms. Hazan, but I had a box of Wegman’s beef broth that I wanted to use. Although the recipe calls for 5 cups, the box was 32 ounces (4 cups), hopefully enough. For the recipe you also need shallots or onions, butter, vegetable oil, Italian Arborio rice and Parmesan cheese.
I am able to stand longer and have begun seeking out new recipes. I recently had a craving for risotto. While I thought I would make Risotto alla Milanese, I found a recipe in Marcella Hazan’s book “The Classic Italian Cook Book” for Risotto with Parmesan Cheese. I found Ms. Hazan’s recipe to be interesting as the broth could be homemade meat broth or chicken broth mixed with water. Forgive me Ms. Hazan, but I had a box of Wegman’s beef broth that I wanted to use. Although the recipe calls for 5 cups, the box was 32 ounces (4 cups), hopefully enough. For the recipe you also need shallots or onions, butter, vegetable oil, Italian Arborio rice and Parmesan cheese.
I brought the broth to a simmer before starting the risotto. Using my LeCreuset braiser, I added vegetable oil and butter to the pan and sautèed the shallots. When the shallots were translucent, I added the rice and stirred to coat. I added a ladle full of broth and began stirring the mixture. Then I thought, why not follow America’s Test Kitchen’s Elle Simone’s easier no stir method. This meant pouring all the broth into the pan and bringing it to a vigorous simmer which simulates stirring. I stirred the rice twice during cooking, which took approximately 16-18 minutes. When it was done, off heat I added additional butter, Parmesan cheese and vigorously stirred to release more starch from the rice to make it creamier.
The rice came out perfectly without me constantly stirring, sorry Ms. Hazan. The risotto was rich and creamy and had a depth of flavor different from chicken stock. I wished I had remembered to put my Parmesan rinds in the pot when cooking to impart even more flavor. It was a nice change with beef broth.
Another terrific recipe that came through in my NYT Cooking Newsletter was from Kay Chun for Fragrant Coconut Chicken and Sweet Potato. This two-pot meal was easy to prepare and was quite wonderful. For the recipe you’ll need a neutral oil, a medium sweet potato, salt, pepper, scallions, garlic cloves, fresh ginger, ground chicken (preferably dark meat), unsweetened full-fat coconut milk, baby spinach, lime juice, cilantro and cooked jasmine rice for serving. My local food store didn’t have dark meat ground chicken, so I opted for ground turkey, which worked out fine.
In a non-stick skillet with oil, diced sweet potato is added, tossed to coat with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The sweet potato is cooked until tender then removed from the pan. More oil is added to the pan and the scallions, garlic and ginger are cooked until fragrant. The ground chicken is added, seasoned with salt and pepper, broken up and cooked until it’s no longer pink.
The sweet potato is added back to the pan along with coconut milk and cooked until slightly reduced and thickened. The spinach is stirred in until wilted. Off heat lime juice and cilantro are added and seasoning adjusted. To serve, the chicken mixture is placed atop cooked rice. As I used scallions that had on hand, I was unable to garnish the chicken with additional scallions and omitted the cilantro.
This was quite a wonderful dish. The dish had texture and some sweetness from the sweet potato, the spinach added color and a savory note. Overall, a great recipe that’s easy to prepare. It takes 20 minutes to cook and prep is approximately 20 minutes.
If you have a question about a recipe, click on "Contact" to reach me. Be sure to include your email address so I can directly reply to you.
The rice came out perfectly without me constantly stirring, sorry Ms. Hazan. The risotto was rich and creamy and had a depth of flavor different from chicken stock. I wished I had remembered to put my Parmesan rinds in the pot when cooking to impart even more flavor. It was a nice change with beef broth.
Another terrific recipe that came through in my NYT Cooking Newsletter was from Kay Chun for Fragrant Coconut Chicken and Sweet Potato. This two-pot meal was easy to prepare and was quite wonderful. For the recipe you’ll need a neutral oil, a medium sweet potato, salt, pepper, scallions, garlic cloves, fresh ginger, ground chicken (preferably dark meat), unsweetened full-fat coconut milk, baby spinach, lime juice, cilantro and cooked jasmine rice for serving. My local food store didn’t have dark meat ground chicken, so I opted for ground turkey, which worked out fine.
In a non-stick skillet with oil, diced sweet potato is added, tossed to coat with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. The sweet potato is cooked until tender then removed from the pan. More oil is added to the pan and the scallions, garlic and ginger are cooked until fragrant. The ground chicken is added, seasoned with salt and pepper, broken up and cooked until it’s no longer pink.
The sweet potato is added back to the pan along with coconut milk and cooked until slightly reduced and thickened. The spinach is stirred in until wilted. Off heat lime juice and cilantro are added and seasoning adjusted. To serve, the chicken mixture is placed atop cooked rice. As I used scallions that had on hand, I was unable to garnish the chicken with additional scallions and omitted the cilantro.
This was quite a wonderful dish. The dish had texture and some sweetness from the sweet potato, the spinach added color and a savory note. Overall, a great recipe that’s easy to prepare. It takes 20 minutes to cook and prep is approximately 20 minutes.
If you have a question about a recipe, click on "Contact" to reach me. Be sure to include your email address so I can directly reply to you.
Risotto with Parmesan Cheese
Risotto all Parmigiana
“The Classic Italian Cook Book,” by Marcella Hazan
Knopf Edition Published February 27, 1976
Copyright ©1973 by Marcella Hazan
Cooking directions adapted by Donna Walsifer to include
Ms. Hazan’s “Basic Risotto Technique”
Servings: 4
Ingredients
5 cups homemade meat broth or 1 cup canned chicken broth mixed with 4 cups water
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots or yellow onion
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-1/2 cup raw Italian Arborio rice
1/2 heaping cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, if necessary
Preparation
“The Basic Risotto Technique”
Add 1/2 cup of simmering broth and stir while cooking, until the rice absorbs the liquid and wipes the sides of the pot as you stir. When the rice dries out, add another 1/2 cup of simmering broth and continue to stir-cook. You must be steadfast and tireless in your stirring, always loosening the rice from the entire bottom surface of the pot; otherwise, it will stick. Add liquid as the rice dries out, but don’t drown the rice. Remember, risotto is not boiled rice.
Correct heat is very important in making risotto. It should be very lively, but if the liquid evaporates too quickly, the rice cannot cook evenly. It will be soft outside and chalky inside. If the heat is too slow, the rice becomes gluey, which is even worse. Regulate the heat so that, if you using are Italian rice, it will cook in about 30 minutes’ time. The risotto is done when the rice is tender but al dente, firm to the bite. You must be able to judge when the rice is close to doneness, so that as it finishes cooking you won’t swamp it with excess liquid. Until you acquire experience with risotto, it is safer, after 20 minutes’ cooking, to reduce the dose of broth to 1/4 cup at a time, at frequent intervals. When cooked, the rice should be creamily bound together, neither dry nor runny.
Risotto all Parmigiana
“The Classic Italian Cook Book,” by Marcella Hazan
Knopf Edition Published February 27, 1976
Copyright ©1973 by Marcella Hazan
Cooking directions adapted by Donna Walsifer to include
Ms. Hazan’s “Basic Risotto Technique”
Servings: 4
Ingredients
5 cups homemade meat broth or 1 cup canned chicken broth mixed with 4 cups water
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots or yellow onion
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-1/2 cup raw Italian Arborio rice
1/2 heaping cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, if necessary
Preparation
- Bring the broth to a slow, steady simmer.
- Put the shallots in a heavy-bottomed casserole with 2 tablespoons of the butter and all the oil and sauté over medium-high heat until translucent, but not browned.
- Add the rice and still until it’s well coated. Sauté lightly, then add 1/2 cup of the simmering broth. Proceed according to the basic directions for making risotto (see below), adding 1/2 cup of simmering broth as the rice dries out, and stirring it very frequently to prevent it from sticking. (If you run out of broth, continue with water.)
- When you estimate that the rice is about 5 minutes away from being done, add all the grated cheese and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Mix well. Taste and correct for salt. Remember, when the cooking nears the end, not to add too much broth at one time. The risotto should be creamy, but not runny. Serve immediately, with additional grated cheese, if desired, on the side.
“The Basic Risotto Technique”
Add 1/2 cup of simmering broth and stir while cooking, until the rice absorbs the liquid and wipes the sides of the pot as you stir. When the rice dries out, add another 1/2 cup of simmering broth and continue to stir-cook. You must be steadfast and tireless in your stirring, always loosening the rice from the entire bottom surface of the pot; otherwise, it will stick. Add liquid as the rice dries out, but don’t drown the rice. Remember, risotto is not boiled rice.
Correct heat is very important in making risotto. It should be very lively, but if the liquid evaporates too quickly, the rice cannot cook evenly. It will be soft outside and chalky inside. If the heat is too slow, the rice becomes gluey, which is even worse. Regulate the heat so that, if you using are Italian rice, it will cook in about 30 minutes’ time. The risotto is done when the rice is tender but al dente, firm to the bite. You must be able to judge when the rice is close to doneness, so that as it finishes cooking you won’t swamp it with excess liquid. Until you acquire experience with risotto, it is safer, after 20 minutes’ cooking, to reduce the dose of broth to 1/4 cup at a time, at frequent intervals. When cooked, the rice should be creamily bound together, neither dry nor runny.
Fragrant Coconut Chicken and Sweet Potato
By Kay Chun
The New York Times/NYT Cooking
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or safflower
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into ¼-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
½ cup thinly sliced scallions, plus more for garnish
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 pound ground chicken (preferably dark meat)
1 cup unsweetened full-fat coconut milk (see Tip)
4 cups/4 ounces baby spinach
2 tablespoons lime juice
¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
Cooked rice (such as jasmine), for serving
Hot sauce, for serving
Preparation
Tip - You can freeze any leftover coconut milk for up to one month for future use. It may separate, in which case a quick whirl in the blender will restore its creamy texture.
By Kay Chun
The New York Times/NYT Cooking
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or safflower
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into ¼-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
½ cup thinly sliced scallions, plus more for garnish
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 pound ground chicken (preferably dark meat)
1 cup unsweetened full-fat coconut milk (see Tip)
4 cups/4 ounces baby spinach
2 tablespoons lime juice
¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
Cooked rice (such as jasmine), for serving
Hot sauce, for serving
Preparation
- In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium. Add the sweet potato, season with salt and pepper and stir to evenly coat in the oil. Cover and cook, stirring halfway through, until golden and tender, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil plus the scallions, garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook, breaking up the meat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add coconut milk and sweet potato and bring back to a simmer. Cook until liquid is slightly reduced and thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in spinach just until wilted, then turn off the heat. Stir in lime juice and cilantro and season again with salt and pepper.
- Divide the coconut chicken mixture over rice in bowls and garnish with more scallions and cilantro. Serve warm, with hot sauce on the side.
Tip - You can freeze any leftover coconut milk for up to one month for future use. It may separate, in which case a quick whirl in the blender will restore its creamy texture.