After a trip to Italy and France where I got to see my whole family for once, I came back really inspired.

We went to Cinque Terre (Liguria), then Tuscany (Lucca, Pisa, Firenze, San Gimignano and Pisa), then to my parents’ house situated in their little village of Isola di Fano (Marche). I am so glad that Italy unlike France is preserving its cuisine and traditions. France is being invaded by American food chains such as KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks and many others. I have seen a few McDonalds in Italy and that’s basically it. Italians like their caffe, tramezzini, panini, so Starbucks did not made it through yet. Let’s hope it will remains like this for a long time. Like in any other big city, and of course any touristy city, it’s not always easy to find good food in Florence, Siena, or even Paris, you have to know where you’re going and ask the locals for advice. The best meal I had was Da Tano in Fano (Marche) which is a fish and seafood specialty restaurant. Since Marche is not as touristy as Tuscany, you get to eat wonderful meals at an affordable price.

A few shots from Florence

A few shots from Siena

A few shots from Pisa and Lucca where it rained

Going back to my recipe, I wanted to use my beautiful artichokes in a risotto, I haven’t made a risotto in ages, and a risotto recipe is long over due, but since I had already cooked saffron rice, I decided to use it instead. I am not really a big rice eater even though I do enjoy it whenver I eat it…it’s one of those ingredients that I keep forgetting, just like potatoes.I used basmati rice, but any long grain rice would work well. Of course, a saffron risotto using arborio rice is also another great alternative.

Ingredients for 4

• 10.60 oz (or 300 g) basmati rice or any other long grain rice
• 1 dose of saffron
• 20.30 fl oz (or 600 ml) vegetable broth
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 lb baby artichokes, cut and trimmed
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 4 tbs fresh or frozen peas
• 3 tbs freshly grated parmesan + extra for shaving
• black truffle oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Steam rice with vegetable broth using a pot or a rice cooker. If using arborio rice, cook it like a risotto, adding broth and wine gradually until absorption of the liquid.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add garlic, stir. Add artichokes, salt pepper and wine. Cover and let cook at medium heat until artichokes are tender but still firm. Add peas, cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes. When the rice is cooked add artichoke/peas mixture. Stir parmesan cheese and mix carefully.

Divide in dishes and top it with shaved parmesan, sprinkle some truffle oil and black pepper.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2012/10/rice-timbale-with-artichokes-and-peas-parmesan-and-truffle-oil/feed/ 2 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/12/a-different-kind-of-basmati-coral-red-basmati-with-mustard-greens-peas-and-shrimps/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-different-kind-of-basmati-coral-red-basmati-with-mustard-greens-peas-and-shrimps http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/12/a-different-kind-of-basmati-coral-red-basmati-with-mustard-greens-peas-and-shrimps/#comments Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:12:23 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=5771 Un basmati pas comme les autres – Basmati rouge corail aux crevettes, fanes de moutarde et pois

I think by now I must have tried almost all the different kinds of rice on the market, going from basic to fancy. The funny thing is that I am not a big rice eater but when I see a kind I never tasted, I buy it.

For me, rice is that ingredient I enjoy but that I rarely cook. Then when I eat it, I am thinking I should make it more often. Time goes by, and rice is still left in the pantry.

This time, I found this beautiful coral red basmati at Whole Foods and was curious about its taste and texture, and after one month of staring at it, I decided to make something out of it. I liked its “marketing” name “coral red” is quite a pretty name for a red rice and thinking about it I bought it mainly because I was seduced by its name which I found quite sexy. Americans are certainly great at marketing!

I love rice bowls, they’re nutritious and you can make a “one-meal” bowl, besides whole rices are perfect for that. Coral red basmati rice does not taste exactly like regular basmati, It has a pretty color but is less aromatic.

French people are not big rice eaters, they eat a lot more potatoes as primary carbohydrate and of course bread. I remember a commercial on TV when I was a child for Uncle Ben’s rice “Le riz qui ne colle jamais“, “the rice that never sticks”, in his little plastic bag, and that was the only rice I would eat. My mom creamy risotto was so unappealing comparing to Uncle Bens! I was fascinated by its TV commercial of this old and big Southern American guy with a thick American accent and his “Uncle Bens! le riz qui ne colle jamais!”.

Ingredients for 4

• 280 g coral red rice (about 70 g per person)
• 1 large bunch mustard greens, chopped
• 24 large uncooked shrimps
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas
• 2 shallots, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 small piece ginger, grated
• 1 tbs mustard seeds
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs olive oil

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, brown shallots, 1 garlic clove, ginger and mustard seeds. Stir well and let all ingredients brown.

Steam rice in a rice cooker or regular pot.

Cook mustard greens in boiling water for about 5-7 minutes, until cooked. Drain, squeeze extra water and chop finely.

Add shrimps to onion, garlic, ginger mixture and cook for about 5 minutes until shrimps are cooked, add peas and mustard greens, salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. (If using fresh peas, they need to cook longer)

Add rice and stir well. Add 1 garlic clove crushed and 1 tbs soy sauce, stir well, let it cook for another 5 minutes and serve as a side dish or as a full meal.

The first interesting part of this dish is the rice…yes indeed. An Indian friend of mine who arrived straight from Cochin used to prepare this type of rice and I loved its subtle fragrance. So now anytime I cook something with an exotic flair, I always prepare rice this way. Rice is steamed in a water that had been infused with lots of spices, so when the rice cooks, it absorbs a distinct and very unique flavor.

I substituted cinnamon with vanilla in my recipe. I am not a huge cinnamon fan, I liked cinnamon when I lived in France, but since I moved to the US, I think I got a little turned off by it, just because, almost all desserts and sweets have cinnamon in it, and I even got served many times cinnamon on my cappuccino which I was unable to drink. What is it with cinnamon? A little discreet touch once in a while is fine, but not all over the place. The funny thing is I have such a cinnamon phobia that when I order desserts in restaurants, I always ask the waiter if the dessert contains cinnamon. Then I get the weird stare as if something is wrong with me. Oh well.

The second interesting part of this dish are the shrimps. Well, the shrimps are cooked with a colombo spice mixture, colombo is a typical creole spice mixture made out of turmeric, cumin, cloves, black pepper, coriander, fenugreek, mustard and ginger. What we call DOM TOM (Département et Territoires d’Outre Mer) in France are the Antilles Islands such as Martinique, Guadeloupe, La Reunion, etc…therefore territories and districts that belong to France and who do have a créole cuisine, so yes many French go on vacation on those islands and they do come back with some new exotic recipes. Colombo is somehow the créole curry.

Since there is no perfect meal if there are no vegetables, I served a simple side dish of grilled zucchini…no spices, since the rice and shrimps do have lots of flavors, the zucchini balance the whole dish by being simple and neutral but nonetheless tasty.

So here we have a quite spicy and flavorful dish, you will be in Martinique and in Kerala at the same time, isn’t it a great trip? Oh let’s not forget Tahiti for the vanilla flavor.

Ingredients for 4

For the shrimps

• 24 large jumbo shrimps, deveined
• 1 small yellow onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 small piece of ginger, grated
• 1/2 tsp colombo powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the rice

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 vanilla pod
• 3 cloves
• 4 cardamom pods, cut lengthwise
• 1/3 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/3 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/3 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 cups water

For the zucchini

• 4 zucchini
• 1 tbs olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped

Preparation

First prepare the “spiced water” for the rice. Add water to a pot, then add cloves, cumin, cardamom, fennel and vanilla bean split in two. Scrape the beans. Bring the water to a boil and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes to infuse the spices. Remove from pot and let it cool.

Place rice in a pot and add “spiced water”. To steam my rice I never measure quantity of water. I always add enough water so that 0.4 inches are above the rice level and I get a perfectly cooked rice. If the quantity of water has reduced (it certainly did) while boiling you might want to add some in order that rice gets 0.4 inches extra on top of its surface. Bring to a boil, then cover with lid and reduce heat to a minimum. Cook for about 20 minutes at very low heat. Remove from heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions and ginger, brown them, then add garlic. Add colombo powder. Stir well then add coconut milk, let reduce a little then add shrimps.

Grill zucchini in a grill pan or regular grill, add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and sprinkle with cilantro.

Serve spooning 3 tbs rice in a plate, top with shrimps and serve zucchini on the side.