Mushroom Risotto

Very simple this time, I used this recipe with very few changes:

I used a 1 lb box of arborio rice plus 1 qt (4 cups) of mushroom stock
For the mushrooms I used two containers from Giant: one of sliced baby bellas, and the other a mix of crimini/oyster/shitake.

The mushroom stock didn't come in low sodium, so I just didn't add any more salt, but next time I'd stick with chicken stock. I just wanted to try out the mushroom stock, I've been eyeing it up at Wegman's for months.

All other portions I kept identical, including the 1/2 c dry white wine, so no need to reduce any other ingredients just because I used less rice. I also used 3 shallots, and I wish I had added a couple cloves of garlic.

I did follow the recipe's suggestion of removing the mushrooms once they were soft, and I'm glad I did: the rice was then in with just the shallots, so it had more chance to get creamy and thick. I actually removed the mushrooms to the same little saucepan as the stock, which I heated over the lowest flame possible so that it was just below simmering the entire time, but hot so that it didn't lower the temp of the rice every time I ladled more in. Then I just used a ladle to scoop broth (but no mushrooms if I could help it) into the rice gradually, one or two ladles at a time.

I did use less butter at the end, since I had less rice, and because it was already delicious and didn't need that much added richness (or fat!).

Chiang Mer

My sister and her friend have had this dish twice at Spice Island in Pittsburgh (the restaurant owned by East Side Girl's hubby), and they both love it even though it is much more spicy than they prefer. I recently bought a jar of mild curry paste from the Indian secion at Wegman's and decided to try to reproduce the dish, and I did pretty well with Hannah's help!

Spice Island's menu describes the dish like this:
Chiang Mai Noodles
Wheat noodles in red curry sauce with minced chicken, hot peppers, carrot, mushroom, onion, and cilantro.

I was going for not so spicy, and I didn't have mushrooms or cilantro, so here's what I did:

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb of spaghetti, cooked & drained
- 1 big or 2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- mild curry paste
- tomato paste
Optional:
- sliced mushrooms
- fresh cilantro
- 1 can crushed tomato, drained

Directions:
Cook the spaghetti

While I waited for the water to boil etc. I made the rest:
- Heat a little oil in a pan (the curry paste is oil-based, so only use just enough to cook the veggies)
- Sautee the onion and carrot in the oil until soft
- Add the chicken and sautee until cooked through
- Add 4 generous Tablespoons of mild curry paste
- Add a hearty squirt of tomato paste (about 2 Tablespoons)
- Continue cooking until sauce is heated and everything is done
- Add the cooked, drained spaghetti and stir it around with the heat still on low until everything is mixed and delicious-looking
- Scoop it onto a plate and enjoy!
The above made two perfect medium-large helpings, one for me and one for my hubby.

The "mild" curry paste I had still packed plenty of bite for my tastes, so I wouldn't add any hot pepper, but would definitely add mushrooms and cilantro if I plan ahead better next time. However, the dish was delicious without them.

The other thing I will definitely change next time is to use a little less curry paste and add a whole small can of tomato paste, and perhaps also a small can of crushed tomatoes (drained as much as possible). It was delicious, but I think it would have been even better with some more tomato, even if I had to cook it longer to get rid of the extra liquid. If adding the crushed tomatoes is going to give me a lot of extra liquid, I would just brown the chicken quickly at first but not cook it completely so that it could cook the rest of the way as the sauce simmered and reduced.

I hope to make this again soon with the added ingredients, so I'll let you know how it turns out then!