Tag Archives: cheese

Smoked Gouda and Spinach Risotto

22 Jan

I love this dish… to me, this dish is comfort food at its finest and easiest.

You know me, I make risotto from a box, but I never eat it straight as is… I always embellish the risotto from Archer Farms with lots of flavor and ingredients.  I actually started making this risotto a looooooooooong time ago, more or less 10 years.  But I used to make it with a Lipton’s Creamy Garlic and Parmesan Risotto mix.  Unfortunately, that product was discontinued… but now I can continue the legacy buying rice at Target every time I travel.

I first learned the basics of flavors for this recipe from something I had read in Cooking Light magazine…  I saw the recipe but I said to myself I would never stand in front of a stove stirring rice for 20-25 minutes.  I love how this tastes… and no one who has had it has ever asked or noticed that the base is from a box, because the flavors are so restaurant like.

I do have to warn you, this recipe is addictive… and with the amount of cheese, it is a bit fattening.  But for special occasions, to celebrate others or yourself, this recipe is easy, reliable and most importantly, delicious.

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SMOKED GOUDA AND SPINACH RISOTTO

1 box of Archer Farms 4-Cheese Risotto mix
1 ¼ cup cut-leaf spinach, defrosted and squeezed, but not too much
8-10 button mushrooms, cleaned well and sliced
½ a round of smoked Gouda cheese
3 oz of cream cheese
1/2 cup Fontina cheese, grated
½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced (optional, but highly recommended)

 

  1. In a large pot, bring 2 ½ cup of water to a boil… we’re basically preparing the risotto according to packaging directions… when the water boils, dump in the rice packet and the seasonings packet.  It might seem the pot is too large, but the mixture will bulk up with the cheeses and mushrooms, specially.
  2. While that cooks a bit, you have some time to slice mushrooms, slice the sun-dried tomatoes and grate the cheeses.  Even though the spinach I buy is cut-leaf spinach, I usually run my kitchen scissors through it to make sure the pieces of spinach are manageable when eating.
  3. When the rice is partly done, add the spinach to the pot.  Mix well and cover partially so the rice comes again to temperature quickly.  After the rice has come to temperature, add the cheeses one by one… I usually start with the cream cheese, then the Gouda, then the Fontina and then the Pecorino.  Mix well to help the cheeses melt into the rice/spinach mixture.
  4. When the cheeses have melted well, but the sauce is still runny, add the mushroom slices and the sun-dried tomatoes, if using.  Mix everything well and let the mushrooms cook a bit.  
  5. When you feel the rice is done, cover the pot and let it stand there for about 10-15 minutes. 

 

While you’re waiting, you can make a side salad or some baked plantains…  the sauce will thicken a bit after waiting a little while and it will be at a nicer temperature where you can really enjoy the cheese and spinach flavors.  If it’s too hot, you won’t taste anything…

This recipe reheats very well.  All I do for the sauce to return to its creamy consistency is to heat it any leftovers up with a bit of cream, half and half or even milk.  I reheat it on the stove top and in a few minutes it’s creamy as it was the night before.

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Sorullitos de Maíz- Cornmeal Fritters

4 Jan

After a whole week of fasting, these sorullitos de maíz were the first actual food I ate after I finished my spiritual retreat.  Not the best choice, but you have to “go with the flow”. And the quality of these sorullos, it was well, well worth it.

I visited my sister on New Year’s Day…  She had welcomed the New Year with her husband and his family at their house with a typical Puerto Rican fare – arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), pasteles (a plantain or yucca- based boiled “thing” similar to a tamal), pernil, potato salad, etc. – and the only vegetarian-suitable thing on the menu were these sorullos…  pero qué sorullos!!

My brother-in-law made the recipe according to Carmen Valdejuli’s recipe, the author of Cocina Criolla and the authority on Puerto Rican Cooking.  (The book also comes in an English version.)  He did double the batch because he was unsure of how many sorullos the recipe would yield.  Apparently he was too busy to read right underneath the recipe’s title it yielded 50 sorullos… so he made enough to make 100.  My sister said she was not making 100 sorullos, so she made these “mega sorullos” – not that thick, but extra long.  Regular sorullos are usually about the size of a small index finger.  These ones are like 6 inches long.  But you get the drift.

Most cornmeal bags – at least the ones sold in Puerto Rico – include a sorullito recipe on the packaging.  They’re easy to follow and very reliable.  This recipe, to me it’s the ultimate… the Gouda cheese is melted into the batter giving them a really nice and salty taste.  Some people add a little piece of cheese inside the sorullito so that it melts inside when you fry them.

sorullitos-maiz

SORULLITOS DE MAIZ

Recipe from Carmen Valdejuli, Cocina Criolla – Makes about 50 sorullitos

2 cups of water
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cup cornmeal
1 cup Edam cheese, grated – my brother-in-law used Gouda cheese…
 

1.  Bring the water with salt to a boil. Take away from the heat and add the cornmeal. Quickly, mix the water and cornmeal together and cook under moderate heat. Continue mixing about 3 to 5 minutes until the mixture separates from the bottom and sides of the pot.

2.  Take away from the heat and add the grated cheese – you’ll see the mixture will loosen a bit when you add the cheese.

3.  Immediately, take spoonfuls of the mixture and form balls in the palm of your hands. Press them to form like small cigars of about 3 inches long. As you can see my sister/brother-ion-law version are much longer than the original recipe calls for.

4.  Fry them in plenty of vegetable oil at 375 F. Take them out when they’re golden and place them onto paper towels to drain the excess oil.

And the only way to enjoy sorullitos is with a great MayoKetchup Dip.  My brother-in-law showed me a new version of MayoKetchup.  A nice little twist with even more flavor… check it out.

This is not diet food… but it is certainly, food of the Puerto Rican gods…  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

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A night of French Cheeses

22 Dec

One of the presents I gave myself for my birthday was a Cheese Class given by our favorite French chef, David Chamyol, from the restaurant Bistrot de Paris in San Juan. My friends, Laura and Annie Mariel accompanied me for a whole night of dishes made primarily with French cheeses.

               cheese-class-nosotras-copy         notre-chef-de-cuisine-copy

It was very fun. First, we learned how to make raclette. Raclette is the cheese as well as the grill/broiler used to melt the cheese. It’s basically a melted cheese under a very special grill, also known as raclette, and then you pour the melted cheese on top of boiled potatoes, bread or vegetables. We tasted the cheese before melting and after… I was super surprised how different the cheese tastes after its melted. The taste is very pungent and sharp when you cut it fresh, but after its melted the taste turns very mellow. I loved it on top of the boiled potatoes… a great nibbling dish for a night with friends.

             raclette-en-bandejita-copy      raclette-en-proceso-de-derretirse-copy

 

              papas-sobre-raclette-copy         raclette-sobre-papas-copy
Actually, my friend Laura loved so much the raclette concept, she went online the next day and immediately bought herself a raclette grill. Apparently, at our Fete des Francophones in January, the raclette will be making a special appearance.
Then, we learned how to make Tartiflette… this is a baked dish made also with potatoes and onions sautéed in butter and olive oil. Then, you transfer these potatoes to a baking dish and cover with pieces of Reblochon cheese. Then you bake the tartiflette in the oven for 20 minutes and voila, you’ve got a very hearty dish that you can enjoy with a nice side green salad. The cheese is very smelly and pungent. This was my least favorite dish to be truly honest – maybe because I was getting full with the boiled potatoes and raclette… it is very rich and dense.

            tartiflette-antes-del-horno-copy          tartiflette-con-ensalada-copy
To finish, we learned how to make a proper French cheese fondue. You shred equal parts of gruyère, comté and beaufort cheeses and add ½ part of vacherin cheese. You add those to a base of white wine, Dijon mustard, nutmeg, salt and pepper. If you truly want to make this karma-free, I would make it at home with a bit of apple cider, apple juice or white grape juice or even apple cider vinegar. You melt the cheeses in that base and add a bit of kirsch. I was told that a proper fondue was not a fondue without the kirsch. I’ll have to find a reasonable facsimile to emulate the cherry flavor without the alcohol. But it was lovely… I loved dunking the pieces of bread, cornishons, pear and apple in the smooth cheese blend. To be honest, this was my first time eating a cheese fondue. I’ve seen it made plenty of times at the Food Network, but never tried it myself. We all fell in love with the concept and decided we needed to repeat it for one of our Les Francophones get-togethers.

              quesos-fondue-copy            fondue-copy

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I should also mention that in addition to the cheeses used in the dishes I have described above, we also tasted goat cheeses, cheeses made from brebis mountain sheep, blue cheeses, among others. These cheeses were specially provided by Marco Dettling from The Cheese Market, a Swiss guy now living in Puerto Rico and imports many fresh European cheeses. His appreciation and knowledge of European cheeses was evident. He actually turned out to be an “almost neighbor” of mine. We live in the same street… what a small world this is, no?

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What I loved about this cheesy experience was that there’s so much versatility when cooking with cheese… pastas or risottos is just a small fraction of what you can do. French cuisine is filled with creamy and cheesy concoctions that will give you the opportunity to savor new and interesting kinds of cheeses you might not be usually accustomed to taste. It’s a window into another culture and exposes you to new tastes and experiences.

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Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta

20 Nov

When November comes around, it’s birthday time!!!!  My aunt’s, my dad’s and mine… so I decided to host a lunch to celebrate all our birthdays.  And to top it all, my sister came in from Miami to visit too, so the family was complete.

Everyone invited was not vegetarian, but because the lunch was hosted at my house, vegetarian fare was a MUST.  I had planned to make pasta – it’s the safe and easy choice; Non-threatening to the skeptical.  I was originally planning on making a pasta with gorgonzola – a dish inspired by a dinner I had in Old San Juan a couple of weeks ago.  Then, I saw 30-Minute Meals and was totally inspired by a dish Rachael Ray made…   I do not recall how she called it, but my version is called Roasted Garlic and Tomato Pasta…

 roasted-garlic-and-tomato-pasta

ROASTED GARLIC AND TOMATO PASTA

1 pound of short whole-wheat tubular pasta, penne rigate or rigatoni works well
3 handfuls of grape tomatoes, about 2 pints
1 whole head of garlic, roasted
2 handfuls of a shredded 4 cheese blend – Fontina, Parmesan, Asiago and Pecorino
1/2 cup basil leaves
3 generous handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves
¼ cup of grated Pecorino Romano
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
  1. I roasted the head of garlic the night before…  Just take the head of garlic, cut the top off and place inside a sheet of aluminum foil.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle a bit of water.  Close the aluminum foil to form a packet and roast in a toaster oven at 350F for 30-40 minutes.
  2. If you do not have time or just did not plan ahead… just open up the head of garlic into cloves, smash them all individually with the side of a knife.  Place them together with the grape tomatoes on a baking sheet to roast side-by-side.  Drizzle the tomatoes and smashed garlic cloves with olive oil, salt and pepper liberally.  Roast in a 350F oven for about 20-25 minutes.  The garlic smell will tell you when it’s done.
  3. When the tomatoes/garlic are about to be done, set a large pot filled with water to boil.  Salt the water as soon as it comes to a boil and drop the pasta.  Stir well to avoid the pasta sticks.  Because we’re using whole-wheat pasta, it’ll take a little longer to cook… about 12-15 minutes.
  4. In a large bowl, place all the roasted garlic cloves with the skins removed.  Smash them into a paste with a large fork. 
  5. As soon as pasta is about to be done, turn the stove off.  Take about 1 ½ cups of water and pour on top of the roasted garlic.  Mix the garlic and water and create like a “tea” of roasted garlic.  Add the roasted tomatoes and smash them together with the garlic tea. 
  6. Drain the pasta.  I always drain the pasta over a Pyrex glass bowl to reserve some of the pasta water, just in case I need some more.  Return the pasta to the pot and pour the tomato/garlic tea over it.  Mix together well so the pasta absorbs the roasted garlic liquid.  While the pot is still hot/warm, add the basil leaves and baby spinach leaves.  Mix together well so the heat of the pasta will wilt them nicely.  Add the shredded 4 cheese blend and mix well.  Cover pot for about 5 minutes to help the spinach wilt.
  7. After the 5 minutes have elapsed, serve in a beautiful pasta bowl and sprinkle with the grated Pecorino Romano.

We had a great time… everyone loved the food, specially my dad, who served himself 3 helpings.  And he’s one of the biggest skeptics of vegetarian food.  Hope you like it too… This is a very easy and delicious pasta that will feed a crowd.  It took almost no-time to make – Very care-free and perfect for entertaining.

Hope you try it and like it too…

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Caramelized Onion Risotto

17 Sep

This is another one of my risotto recipes that starts with Archer Farms 4 cheese Risotto mix.  This is more of a sweet version of risotto, because it has caramelized onions and sweet peas.  It’s a different twist from the salty versions I usually make.

This was an experiment to use up some caramelized onions I had left in the fridge from my French Onion Soup and experiments with a French Onion Dip.

 

CARAMELIZED ONION RISOTTO

1 box of Archer Farms 4 cheese risotto mix
½ cup caramelized onions
2 oz of smoked veggie ham, cut into small pieces
3 roasted garlic cloves
2 oz of shredded gruyere cheese
1 cup of frozen sweet peas
¼ cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

 

  1. In a medium saucepan, prepare risotto mixture according to package directions.
  2. While the rice is cooking, in a separate skillet, brown the pieces of smoked veggie ham.  Set aside.
  3. When the risotto is halfway done and the rice is starting to plump we can start adding more stuff to it…  add the onions and the garlic and mix well.   Add the gruyere cheese and mix well to melt thoroughly.
  4. When the rice is about to be done, add the Parmesan cheese and the peas.   Turn the stove off and let the rice and sauce thicken with the remaining heat from the stove.
  5. After leaving the risotto stand for 15 minutes, serve sprinkling the pieces of smoked veggie ham on top. 
  6. Drizzle with a bit of good extra virgin olive oil to garnish too.

NOTE:  I added the veggie ham pieces into my rice and they went limp on me… so do as I say, not as I do and just keep them as a garnish on top.  They’ll stay crispy and you’ll enjoy them better.

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