The May issue of Gourmet Magazine arrived the other day and as I was flipping through the contents, I realized just how simple many of the recipes were. Not sure if this is because many readers can’t be bothered to cook anything that takes more than say 30 minutes, but it is noticeable how the vast majority of recipes are all the culinary equivalent of sound bites. That may be a bit unfair, but compared to say outrageously complex recipes at the other end of the spectrum in a Gourmet Magazine of say 50 years ago, the times have definitely changed. But despite the simpler/quicker recipes, they still try to feature delicious and at least somewhat sophisticated or worldly concoctions. I spotted this recipe in the magazines, quick cooking section and set it aside, not realizing I would be cooking it the very next day. Saturday evening we had a couple of friends over for dinner, but a late afternoon meeting meant we got home at past 7pm, leaving just 40-45 minutes to whip up a full dinner…
This is what we managed to pull together in less than 45 minutes. An appetizer of prosciutto & melon, thanks to the 2/3 leg of prosciutto still hanging out in the fridge. A generous serving of shrimp & asparagus risotto with lemon rind. Roasted chicken (started by the cook before we got home) served with a very simple green salad of butter(?) lettuce and a balsamic vinaigrette. And a dessert which I will post next. Not too shabby for 45 minutes… And this risotto, recipe on the Gourmet website, here, was pretty easy to do. We used some pretty old arborio rice and it didn’t get as creamy as properly made risotto is supposed to get, but it was delicious nonetheless. The grated lemon rind provided a nice citrusy note to the dish, while the asparagus and shrimp were a good match for the flavorful rice. To be honest, just this and a salad would make a wonderful meal if you didn’t want to get too fancy. And all of the ingredients are available locally.
P.S. A thank you to the folks behind the Gourmet Magazine website that added a mention/link to my article about “50 Year Old Gourmet Magazine Issues” that I featured last year. It’s a little bit of a thrill to be getting several new readers due to that link from one of my favorite food magazines. :)
16 Responses
this looks good considering it is only a 30 minute-prep dish.. this would also be gone in 30 minutes.. hehehe..
first to post a comment ^___^
wow.. that thing sure do look delicious.. I am a rice eater and looking at it makes me want to go home and cook ei.. just a simple rice.. lol
oh.. not first.. T___T
Last sunday I just did a kare-kare risotto mixed with bagoong… simple yet so good.
i want some of that right now.
I think people have been too afraid to make risotto because of all the stirring and waiting for the rice to absorb the broth, but I realized that it doesn’t take that long to make. And during cool evenings, a plate of risotto is a pleasant meal, not to mention using the leftovers (if any) for risotto balls the next day!
a mention in Gourmet Magazine’s website? sounds more and more like MM’s firmly rooted in totally awesome foodie firmament!
(sorry, am playing online scrabble and have a lot of letter Fs in my letter bar :-)
hi MM,
where can I buy good arborio rice in makati or qc?
Thanks again
do you know where i can buy rissoto in manila? can i use rice?
kittyM and bm, you can buy arborio (an Italian short grain rice used for the dish, risotto) at Rustan’s groceries, sometimes the large SM Supermarkets, definitely at Santis, sometimes at Terry’s delicatessen, or sometimes at Galileo Enoteca. Also, less known but just as good for risotto is Carnaoli and Vialano Nano varieties of rice, sometimes available in the same outlets I mentioned earlier.
Mmmmm looks good…
for some reason I thought risotto is a type of pasta :) tsk tsk
talking about lemons, i’ve got soooo many and i wonder if you have other great recipes using them….
thelma, a lemon tart is always a superb use, or lemon curd, or lemon squares or lemonade. Make preserved lemons for North African dishes and tagines. Limonata if you have alcohol. Oh my gosh, you can’t run out of stuff to do with lemons… :)
Hi MM! I recall you saying something about flexing your cooking muscles during your Boston days. Now that I’m doing postgrad so far away from home, I’m glad I have your blog to refer to for meal ideas. I made this risotto awhile ago paired with a Greek salad for starters and it was a-ma-zing. My school buddies thought it beats eating in a 40EU per plate restaurant. The lemon zest added a refreshing note to this dish. Thanks for sharing MM!
zeph, so glad it worked for you. I find many foreign friends daunted by meals that are heavily rice based, but give them risotto or paella and they wolf it down anyway… it’s just in the presentation, I guess… good luck with post grad studies!